ti 


BRYSON    LIBRARY 

Teachers  College 

120th  Street,  Morningside  Heights, 
New  York. 


X 


^S*-"  455* 


THE   LIFE 


OP 


GEORGE  PEABODY; 


CONTAINING  A  RECORD  OP 

THOSE  PRINCELY  ACTS  OF  BENEVOLENCE 

WHICH  ENTITLE  HIM  TO 

THE  ESTEEM  AND  GRATITUDE    OF    ALL   FRIENDS    OF   EDUCATION 

AND  THE  DESTITUTE,  BOTH  IN  AMERICA,  THE  LAND  OF  HIS 

BERTH,  AND  IN  ENGLAND,  THE  PLACE  OF  HIS  DEATH. 

By  PHEBE   A.   HANAFORD, 

MEMBER  OF  THE  ESSEX  INSTITUTE,  AND  AUTHOR  OF  "  THE  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN,"  ETC. 

WITH    AN    INTRODUCTION 
By  DR.  JOSEPH  H.  IIANAFORD. 


(KoU  io'jctfy  a  cfjcertri  gti.er^ 


BOSTON  : 
PUBLISHED  BY  B.  B.  RUSSELL,  55  CORNHILL. 

CINCINNATI:    WHITE,  CORBIN,  BOUVE,   &  CO. 

PHILADELPHIA:    JOHN  DAINTY. 

SAN  FRANCISCO :    H..  H.  BANCROFT  &  CO. 

ST.  LOUIS:    KEITH  &  WOODS. 

1870. 


P 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1870,  by 

PHEBE  A.   HANAFORD, 

In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  District  of  Massachusetts. 


boston  : 
stereotyped  and  printed  by  rand,  avery,  &  frye. 


To 


ALL   TRUE  FRIENDS   OE  HUMANITY, 


IN  ENGLAND  AND  AMERICA, 


Wms8  Mm@@m®  qf>  &  €mmmmww&  @ivmm» 


WHOSE   BENEVOLENCE   IS  WORTHY  OF  WORLD-WIDE   IMITATION, 


INSCRIBED. 


*7»>M 


PREFACE. 


AMERICA  has  been  rich  in  great  men  whose 
intellectual  superiority  or  moral  excellence 
bade  them  tower  above  the  masses,  or  whose  vast 
possessions,  wisely  used,  as  in  the  case  of  the  sub- 
ject of  this  Memoir,  entitled  them  to  high  place  in 
the  regard  of  a  grateful  and  appreciative  people. 
And  it  is  now  conceded,  that 

"  Among  the  few,  the  immortal  names 
That  were  not  born  to  die/* 

is  to  be  read  in  glowing  characters  the  name  of 
George  Peabody.  A  wide  interest  attaches  to  the 
events  of  his  life  and  the  record  of  his  noble  deeds, 
because  he  showed  so  truly  that  he  valued  wealth 
on  account  of  the  power  it  gave  him  to  do  good, 
and  benefit  others  than  himself  and  his  immediate 
family  or  nearest  relatives.     His  life  is  an  example, 


6  PREFACE. 

in  some  grand  respects;  and  is  therefore  wqrth 
reporting  to  future  generations. 

We  do  not  present  him  as  a  perfect  man,  nor 
yet  as  one  who  professed  to  be  perfect.  He  was 
remarkably  unassuming ;  and  by  his  deeds,  more 
than  by  his  words,  must  he  be  judged.  If  we  had 
a  larger  store  of  materials,  in  the  shape  of  letters 
and  private  memoranda,  the  volume  might  be 
larger;  but  the  gist  of  the  whole  matter  —  the 
points  of  his  character  most  desirable  to  be  known 
in  order  to  awaken  the  emulation  of  others  —  can 
be  presented  in  the  compass  of  this  smaller  vol- 
ume. Besides,  a  large  volume  would  probably  be 
commensurate  with  the  artistic  skill  of  those  em- 
ployed to  prepare  it,  and  therefore  be  too  expen- 
sive for  the  million.  To  obviate  this  difficulty,  this 
book  is  prepared,  and  also  because  we  hope  to  do 
good  by  helping  to  spread  abroad  the  record  of  a 
life  that  was  in  some  respects  unique,  but  noble, 
and  a  benevolence  worthy  of  world-wide  imitation. 

As  a  member  of  the  Essex  Institute  (whose 
headquarters  are  in  Salem,  Mass.,  near  the  birth- 
place of  Mr.  Peabody),  the  writer  takes  the  pen 
with  an  emotion  of  gratitude  to  one  who  mani- 
fested so  great  an  interest  in  the  objects  of  our 


PREFACE.  7 

association,  and  whose  munificence,  as  will  be 
shown  in  the  following  pages,  so  enhanced  our 
means  of  prosecuting  historical  and  scientific  re- 
search, as  to  make  his  name  illustrious,  and  his 
memory  fragrant,  among  us  forever. 

Reading,  Mass.  P.  A.  H. 


CONTENTS. 


Introduction 


CHAPTER     I. 

EARLY  DAYS. 

The  Boy  foreshadowing  the  Man.  —  Ancestry.  —  Birthplace.  —  Childhood. 
s    The  Young  Store-Keeper.  —  Newburyport       ...... 


CHAPTER  H. 

OUT  IN  THE  -WORLD. 

The  Commercial  Assistant.  —  Business-Habits. —  Love-Story.  —  Going  South  .       45 
CHAPTER    HI. 

PATRIOTISM. 

The  Citizen  Soldier.  — The  First  Partnership.  — The  Travelling  Member  of 

the  Firm.  —  Life  in  Baltimore 56 

CHAPTER     IV. 

LONDON  LIFE. 

Removal  to  Lond'on.  —  Disinterestedness.  —  Kindness  to  Americans.  —  Saving 

the  Credit  of  his  Country  at  the  Crystal  Palace 68 

CHAPTER  V. 

GREAT  AND  GOOD  GIFTS. 

Help  to  find  Sir  John  Franklin.  —  Donation  to  Danvers.  —  The  Peabody  Insti- 
tute in  reabody.  —  The  Public  Reception  of  the  Benefactor  .        ...       80 

9 


10  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  VI. 

GOOD  GIFTS  CONTINUED. 

The  Donation  to  Thetford,  Vt.  —  Grandfather  Dodge. —  The  Wood-sawing 

Story 102 

CHAPTER     VH. 

STILL  GIVING. 

Peahody  Institate  at  Baltimore.  —  Letter  of  Mr.  Peahody.  —  Proceedings  in 

Regard  to  the  Donation.  —  Mr.  Peabody's  Remarks       .        ....      115 

CHAPTER  VTH. 

GREATER  BENEFACTIONS. 

Amelioration  of  the  Condition  of  the  Poor  in  London.  —  Magnificent  Bequest 

of  Mr.  Peahody.  —  Description  of  the  Buildings      ......      124 

CHAPTER  IX. 

APPRECIATION. 

Secoad  Visit  to  his  Native  Land.  —  The  Freedom  of  the  City  of  London.  —  The 

Queen's  Letter.  —  The  Queen's  Portrait.  —  The  Peahody  Statue  ...      142 

CHAPTER  X. 

MR.  PEABODY  IN  AMERICA. 

The  Flood  of  Letters.  —  The  Gift  for  Education  in  the  South.  — Mr.  Peabody's 

Letter.  —  What  the  Money  is  doing 154 

CHAPTER  XI. 

MORE  GIFTS  FOR  SCIENCE. 

Money  for  Museums  at  Yale  and  Harvard.  —  Correspondence  iu  Reference  to 

these  Donations.  —  The  Value  of  the  Gift 165 

CHAPTER  XH. 

STILL  HELPING  EDUCATORS. 

Peabody  Academy  of  Science  in  Salem.  —  Essex  Institute.  —  Mr.  Peabody's 

Letter.  — His  Love  for  his  native  County  of  Essex 183 


CONTENTS.  11 

CHAPTER   XIII. 

YET  GIVING  CHEERFULLY. 

Massachusetts  Historical  Society.  —  Kenyon  College,  and  Mr.  Peabody's  Dona- 
tion to  it.  —  Documents  in  Regard  to  the  Acceptable  Gifts     ....      201 

CHAPTER    XIV. 

FILIAL  DEVOTION. 

Memorial  Church  at  Georgetown.— Mr.  Peabody's  Love  for  his  Mother.— 
Hymn  for  the  Dedication,  by  John  G.  Whittier.  —  Gifts  to  his  Family  and 
Friends 208 

CHAPTER  XV. 

RETURN  TO  ENGLAND. 

Mr.  Peabody's  Speech  at  the  National  Peace  Jubilee.— Illness  of  Mr.  Pea- 
body.— Return  to  England.— Sir  Curti8  Lampson 217 


CHAPTER   XVI. 

DEATH  OF  MR.  PEABODY. 

The  Lightning  News.  —  The  Comments  of  the  Press.  —  Respect  shown  to  Mr. 
Peabody's  Memory.  —  Portraits  of  Mr.  Peabody 

CHAPTER   XVH. 

FUNERAL  IN  ENGLAND. 

Westminster  Abbey.  —  Transportation  of  the  Remains  to  America.  — Descrip- 
tion of  the  Ship  "  Monarch."  —  Poem  suggested  by  the  Funeral  Procession 
on  the  Ocean 

CHAPTER   XVHI. 

FUNERAL  IN  AMERICA. 

Reception  of  the  Remains  in  America.— Prince  Arthur  of  England.— Mr. 

Winthroi>'8  Eulogy.— The  Funeral  in  Harmony  Grove 245 


233 


12         •  CONTENTS. 

» 

CHAPTER   XIX. 

DESERVED  TRIBUTES. 

Newman  Hall  on  George  Peabody.  —Tributes  from  Various  Sources.  —  Poetic 
Tribute  from  "The  London  Evening  Standard."  — The  Pulpit's  Voice  in 
Praise  of  bis  Beneficence.  —  List  of  bis  Donations 269 

CHAPTER.  XX. 

THOUGHTS  SUGGESTED. 

The  Lessons  of  George  Peabody's  Life.  —Money  is  Power.  —  A  Consecrated 

Purse  is  that  of  Fortunatus 280 


ILLLUSTRATIONS. 

Portrait  of  Mr.  Peabody Frontispiece. 

Birthplace  of  George  Peabody 35 

Peabody  and  Danvers  Institutes 85 

Peabody  Square,  Islington,  London I29 

Peabody  Statue,  London;  and  Peabody  Institute,  Baltimore      ....      149 


INTRODUCTION. 


OF  the  myriads  of  human  beings  who  flit  across  the 
stage  of  life,  but  few,  comparatively,  ever  become 
really  eminent ;  but  few  ever  thrust  themselves,  so  to  speak, 
unwittingly,  it  may  be,  upon  the  popular  observation,  or 
organize  and  achieve  a  marked  success.  But  few  are  will- 
ing to  burst  the  shackles  of  sensuous  thraldom,  and  gird  on 
the  whole  panoply  of  a  true  and  elevated  manhood,  and 
enter  the  arena  of  life's  conflict,  yielding  to  the  nobler  im- 
pulses of  the  higher  nature,  the  intellectual  and  moral, 
necessitating  the  complete  subserviency  of  the  lower  and 
mere  animal  nature.  But  few  raise  high  the  standard  of 
attainment,  basing  the  purposes  of  life  upon  clear  and  vivid 
ideas  and  potent  aspirations,  and  then  concentrate  the 
developed  and  expanding  energies  of  the  soul  wjlth  perti- 
nacious and  indomitable  courage.  These  few  stand  out  in 
bold  relief,  like  the  majestic  oak  on  the  hill-top,  or  like 

13 


14  INTRODUCTION. 

some  "  bright,  particular  star,"  suddenly  emerging  from 
the  horizon,  moving  upward  in  majesty,  full-orbed  and 
radiant,  increasing  in  size  and  brilliancy,  and  sending  its 
beams  of  light  to  the  remotest  regions.  Some  of  these 
remind  us  of  the  meteor  as  it  dashes  across  the  heavens, 
blazing  with  its  own  native  fires;  sometimes  seemingly 
erratic  in  its  course,  yet  true  to  its  nature,  and  controlled 
by  fixed  and  immutable  laws,  startling  and  awing  the  ob- 
server, or  challenging  respect  and  admiration.  Such 
organize  and  decree  success  and  distinction  in  obedience  to 
the  laws  of  mind,  not  only  by  unremitting  effort  and  toil 
even,  but  by  a  wise  adjustment  of  means  to  ends,  having 
regard  to  principles  as  definite  and  undeviating  in  their 
applications  as  those  which  guide  the  chemist  in  the  labora- 
tory, the  physician  at  the  bedside,  and  the  surgeon  in  the 
operating-hall.  Their  success  is  not  the  result  of  accident, 
u  luck,"  unusual  mental  endowments,  aid  of  friends,  but 
rather  the  legitimate  and  necessary  sequonce  of  industry, 
perseverance,  energy,  clearness  of  perception,  oneness  of 
purpose,  fixedness  of  effort,  and  strength  of  will.  If  the 
circumstances  and  surroundings  are  not  favorable,  no  ener- 
gies are  squandered  in  useless  hesitancy  or  unmanly  mur- 
murings,  but#  are  modified,  and,  if  possible,  made  subservient 
to  the  great  purposes  of  life,  or  may  be  utterly  ignored ; 


INTRODUCTION.  15 

while  the  aspiring  candidate  for  distinction  and  an  enviable 
pre-eminence  determines  never  for  a  moment  to  entertain 
the  idea  of  a  "  cessation  of  hostilities,"  —  never  admits 
into  his  vocabulary  the  word  fail,  » 

Mr.  Peabody  was  a  marked  man,  a  representative  man, 
towering  in  giant  proportions  among  the  prominent  and 
successful  business-men  of  the  age,  —  a  model  financier. 
He  courted  no  special  favors,  no  exclusive  privileges,  but 
was  ready  to  enter  business  -  life  "  single-handed,"  and 
become  the  architect  of  his  own  fortune,  or  personally 
share  the  fate  due  to  those  who  ignobly  fail. 

His  success  as  a  financier  is  attributable  rather  to  his 
inherent  qualities  of  mind,  and,  to  a  certain  extent,  of 
body,  —  personal  appearance,  —  than  to  any  specially 
favoring  circumstances.  If  there  were  any  apparently 
favoring  circumstances,  we  may  claim  that  he  either  pro- 
duced these,  or  adroitly  availed  himself  of  them  ;  appropri- 
ating whatever  might  be  conducive  to  his  advantage. 
Though  not  in  abject  poverty,  as  often  stated,  it  is  certain 
that  he  rose  from  the  humbler  walks  of  life,  and,  of  course, 
is  estimated  more  fairly  by  the  progress  made  than  by  the 
simple  fact  that  he  rose  to  a  high  position  in  society, 
socially  and  financially,  winning  unequalled  laurels  on  both 
hemispheres.     No  wealthy  friend  or  relative  ever  furnished 


16  INTRODUCTION. 

funds  to  aid  him  in  commencing  a  business-life,  or  exerted 
in  his  behalf  any  specially  favorable  influence  as  a  means 
of  giving  him  advantages  at  the  commencement  of  his  busi- 
ness career,  when  counsel  and  material  aid  are"  ordinarily 
of  great  service.  Commencing  active  business-life  while 
still  in  his  minority,  his  education  was  necessarily  limited,  — 
far  more  so  than  that  of  most  young  men  of  the  same  age  at 
the  present  time,  with  the  educational  advantages  now  pos- 
sessed. His  was  only  a  "  common-school "  training,  that 
afforded,  about  a  half-century  since,  only  a  partial  course, 
—  but  a  fraction  of  the  meagre  facilities  for  a  preparation 
for  a  commercial  life  presented  to  the  youth  of  an  age*  far 
less  auspicious  than  the  present.  Yet,  like  all  other  obsta- 
cles, this  was  fairly  and  fearlessly  met ;  self-culture  compen- 
sating, at  least  measurably,  for  these  manifest  disadvantages : 
affording  a  fine  illustration  of  -the  fact,  that  native  good 
sense,  industry,  and  will  are  sufficient  to  insure  victory 
under  almost  any  circumstances.  Those  who  were  famil- 
iar with  him,  who  understood  his  conversational  powers, 
his  general  intelligence,  would  ordinarily  have  accorded  to 
him  the  advantages  of  a  good,  if  not  of  a  liberal  education. 
Indeed,  his  correspondence  was  remarkable  for  its  compre- 
hensiveness, its  terseness  of  style,  elegance  of  diction,  and 
chasteness  of  expression. 


INTRODUCTION.  17 

These  most  assuredly  indicated  culture  and  refinement, 
by  no  means  usual  in  business-circles,  in  those  more  famil- 
iar with  bonds,  coupons,  notes  of  hand,  &c,  than  with  sci- 
ence and  literature.  It  is,  indeed,  a  matter  of  surprise  that 
one  so  devoted  to  his  business-pursuits ;  one  who  personally 
attended  to  even  the  details  of  his  financial  transactions, 
—  such  duties  often  demanding  nearly  twice  the  number 
of  hours  of  toil  now  required  of  the  mechanic  and '  artisan 
in  this  country  ;  so  methodically  exacting  in  every  thing 
relating  to  these  duties ;  so  remarkably  devoted  to  his  busi- 
ness, —  it  is  surprising  that  such  a  man  should  have  availed 
himself  of  the  fragments  of  leisure  moments,  devoting  them 
to  self-culture,  or  that  he  should  have  had  any  taste  for 
mental  pursuits  and  literary  recreations.  This  anomaly  is 
only  explained  by  the  fact,  that  Mr.  Peabody  was  emphati- 
cally a  man  of  energy,  decision  of  character,  remarkably 
industrious,  intellectually  inclined ;  a  man  of  method  and 
system,  scrupulously  dividing  his  time  as  existing  circum- 
stances might  demand. 

Gentlemanly  in  his  bearing,  honorable  in  his  transact 
tions,  genial  in  his  intercourse  with  men,  —  with  honorable 
men,  —  though  his  frown  was  sufficiently  scathing  toward 
the  mean,  fraudulent,  conniving,  and  false,  his  indigna- 
tion sufficiently  marked,  and  his  words  of  denunciation 
2 


18  INTRODUCTION. 

sufficiently  pointed  and  personal,  towards  those  unworthy 
of  confidence,  —  scrupulously  honest  as  a  business-man,  he 
could  not  but  command  the  respect  of  those  engaged  in 
similar  pursuits,  and  enjoy  the  confidence  of  those  familiar 
with  him  in  the  ordinary  walks  of  social  life.  Prompt  and 
methodical,  he  avoided  many  of  the  vexations  and  disas- 
ters experienced  by  men  of  the  opposite  business-habits. 
With  him  the  appointments  of  business  were  sacred,  the 
day  and  the  hour  to  be  observed  with  the  most  undeviating 
certainty  on  his  part ;  while  those  who  failed  in  these  re- 
spects, if  unable  to  offer  a  satisfactory  excuse  for  such  delin- 
quency, would  not  ordinarily  escape  a  decided  reprimand, 
or  more  frequently  forfeit  confidence  and  business-relations. 
Financial  obligations  were  promptly  met  at  the  appointed 
time,  in  strict  accordance  with  the  literal  structure  of  the 
contract,  when  he  was  the  obligor ;  while  it  was  at  least 
injudicious  for  others  to  be  less  scrupulous  towards  him.  If 
there  was  sometimes  seeming  severity,  such  must  be  attrib- 
uted to  his  marked  methodical  habits,  and  to  an  idea  of 
commercial  obligation  and  justice. 

Mr.  Peabody  was  a  man  of  good  natural  abilities ;  had  a 
large  volume  of  brain,  as  the  most  casual  observer  may  no- 
tice ;  his  noble  bearing  well  calculated  to  command  respect, 
not  less  than  confidence.     His  were  clear  perceptions,  — 


INTRODUCTION.  19 

those  of  a  careful  and  discriminating  observer  of  men  and 
things.  His  brain  was  neither  beclouded  by  the  narcotic 
influences  of  the  "  vile  weed,"  as  he  was  not  accustomed 
to  the  use  of  tobacco  in  any  of  its  forms ;  nor  inflamed,  set 
on  fire,  by  the  use  of  alcoholic  stimulants.  Such  indul- 
gences, indeed,  would  have  been  inconsistent  with  his  large 
success,  and  incompatible  with  the  performance  of  his  mani- 
fold duties,  his  almost  crushing  labors,  which  would  have 
exhausted  the  energies  of  almost  any  man  less  scrupulous 
and  less  consistent  in  his  personal  habits.  Nor  did  he  stul- 
tify himself  with  the  indulgences  of  the  gourmand,  —  a 
slave  of  appetite:  far  from  it.  He  gave  and  attended 
banquets ;  yet,  of  all  present,  he  was  the  most  simple  in  his 
habits,  the  most  abstemious,  often  partaking  of  but  a  single 
dish,  and  that  of  the  simplest  quality,  though  the  table 
might  groan  under  the  weight  of  the  luxuries  of  all  climes. 
There  was  neither  wasting  of  his  energies  in  sensual  indul- 
gences, the  gratification  of  the  lower  nature,  nor  a  dissi- 
pation, a  scattering,  a  frittering-away  of  his  powers  in 
unmanly  amusements  and  senseless  frivolity.  He  was  no 
mere  pleasure-seeker ;  though  it  is  reasonable  to  suppose 
that  he  was  not  averse  to  a  consistent  "  unbending,"  after 
exhausting  and  overburdening  the  mind  by  excessive  effort. 
It  is  certain  that  he  was  conscientious  in  regard  to  the 


20  INTEODUCTION. 

more  usual  amusements ;  not  partial  to  theatricals,  since, 
in  the  finish  of  the  "  Memorial  Church,"  he  gave  special 
directions  to  avoid  certain  decorations  calculated  to  "  re- 
mind one  of  the  theatre  ; "  though  that  church  was  finished 
in  elegance,  taste,  and  beauty,  without  regard  to  expense, 
to  "  last  one  hundred  years  without  a  stroke  of  repairs," 
in  the  language  of  the  donor. 

The  key  to  his  marked  success  is  seen  in  these  promi- 
nent characteristics.  Inheriting  a  firm  physical  constitu- 
tion, a  vigorous  and  discriminating  mind,  the  energies  of 
the  one  were  husbanded  by  a  remarkable  abstemiousness 
and  temperance,  the  normal  vital  forces  not  only  retained, 
but  increased  in  their  powers  of  endurance  by  correct  hab- 
its ;  while  the  other  was  called  into  harmonious  activity, 
developed  by  effort,  expanded  by  observation,  and  refined 
by  self-culture,  his  personal  habits  being  favorable  to  such 
physical  and  mental  development. 

As  a  business-man,  Mr.  Peabody  had  a  single  idea,  a 
oneness  of  purpose,  —  success  in  financial  pursuits.  lie 
was  not  only  industrious,  almost  without  a  parallel  in  busi- 
ness-circles, but  his  energies  were  centred,  concentrated 
with  a  marked  persistency  and  vitalizing  energy,  upon  this 
one  object,  this  one  life-pursuit.  Finance  was  his  study,  — 
if  the  expression  is  allowable,  —  and  success,  eminence  in 


INTRODUCTION.  21 

his  avocation,  his  great  object ;  though  an  avaricious  spirit, 
a  mere  love  of  money  as  such,  were  not  fairly  attributed  to 
him.  He  was  neither  diverted  from  his  chosen  pursuits  by 
the  enticements  of  pleasure-seeking,  nor  by  the  allure- 
ments of  fashion,  nor  yet  by  the  blandishments  of  the 
court  and  the  applause  and  attentions  of  the  sovereign  of 
his  adopted  land.  It  is  a  remarkable  fact,  that  the  kind 
regards  of  the  Queen,  the  honors  bestowed  upon  him,  the 
many,  many  temptations  to  accept,  not  court,  the  favors  and 
distinctions  almost  thrust  upon  him  by  those  occupying  the 
highest  position  in  the  realm,  were  not  sufficient  to  capti- 
vate him.  It  was  not  until  after  he  retired  from  business 
that  he  could  be  induced  to  specially  notice  these  proffered 
distinctions  and  regards ;  never  having  been  presented  to 
the  royal  family  until  after  his  retirement  from  the  harass- 
ing cares  and  labors  of  business-life. 

Nor  is  it  to  be  supposed  that  he  never  encountered  diffi- 
culties or  experienced  disasters  in  his  financial  pursuits,  since 
these  are  the  necessary  concomitants  of  a  life  of  business. 
He  is  a  wise  man,  worthy  of  success,  who  encounters  diffi- 
culties without  misgivings,  irresoluteness,  or  murmurings, 
and  boldly  and  resolutely  attempts  the  removal  of  all  obsta- 
cles ;  throwing  himself  into  the  van,  in  the  conflicts  of  life, 
expecting  to   become  the  victor.      After  Mr.  Peabody  had 


22  INTRODUCTION. 

passed  the  meridian  of  a  business-career,  misfortunes  came, 
for  a  time  jeopardizing  his  financial  prospects.  After  the 
age  of  fifty  years,  —  at  which  time  his  wealth  was  compar- 
atively small,  far  less  than  that  of  many  of  our  successful 
business-men  of  perhaps  half  that  age,  —  most  of  his  vast 
accumulations  were  acquired ;  the  last  few  years  of  busi- 
ness being,  probably,  by  far  the  most  remunerative.  His 
earlier  life  seemed  to  have  been  preparatory,  prefatory ;  a 
time  for  the  deposit  of  the  seed  afterwards  to  germinate,  and 
yield  its  fruits  ;  a  time  in  which  to  lay  the  foundation  on 
which  prosperity  was  to  be  reared  near  the  close  of  life, 
and  the  creation  and  adjustment  of  plans  and  instrumen- 
talities by  which  success  was  afterwards  made  almost  or 
quite  certain. 

But  the  "  crowning  glory,"  the  brightest  halo  that 
encircles  the  brow  of  Mr.  Peabody,  is  that  connected  with 
his  munificent  donations  ;  those  of  a  general  character,  but 
especially  those  intended  for  the  lowly,  —  the  poor  of  Eng- 
land and  of  this  country.  This  benevolence  was  but  the 
outgrowth  of  his  compassionate  nature,  and  was  early 
developed;  though  but  little  was  known  of  him,  in  this 
respect,  beyond  a  certain  circle,  publicity  not  being  sought. 
He  was  commendably  devoted  to  his  mother  and  many 
other  relatives  and  personal  friends ;  and  on  these  he  early 


INTRODUCTION.  23 

bestowed  favors,  though,  of  course,  not  as  lavishly  as  in 
after-life,  when  his  means  would  justify  generous  bequests. 
With  a  son's  devotion,  an  affectionate  brother's  solicitude 
and  tenderness,  he  cared  for  those  more  nearly  connected 
by  family  ties ;  while  others  were  educated,  that  in  busi- 
ness relations,  professional  duties,  &c,  they  might  encoun- 
ter less  of  the  disadvantages  than  himself  in  the  avocations 
of  active  life. 

While  cherishing  these  kindly  impulses  in  early  man- 
hood, nurturing  them  by  judicious  bestowments,  we  may 
reasonably  infer  that  the  idea  of  these  larger  and  royal  do- 
nations, royal  in  magnitude  and  design,  were  contem- 
plated long  before  their  public  recognition ;  reposing  in  his 
capacious  and  far-seeing  mind,  —  an  embryotic  existence, — 
to  be  developed  and  assume  vast  proportions  in  due  time. 
Cherishing  a  tender  regard,  an  affectionate  solicitude,  for 
the  lowly  of  both  hemispheres,  —  the  unfortunate  from  the 
force  of  circumstances,  the  peculiarities  of  government, 
&c,  in  the  one,  and  the  terrible  degradation  of  slavery  in 
the  other,  —  may  we  not  infer  that  this  was  the  cherished 
benevolent  impulse  of  his  life ;  and  that,  with  his  far-seeing 
intellect,  as  he  foresaw  the  magnitude  of  the  results  of  such 
a  gift  in  the  elevation  and  the  humanizing  of  the  down- 
trodden,  this   was   the    one   great  aspiration    of  his   life, 


24  INTRODUCTION. 

long  reposing  in  the  bosom  of  the  future,  as  the  helpless 
infant  calmly  sleeps  on  its  mother's  breast,  and  nourished 
there  for  future  activities  ?  This  was  indeed  a  munificent 
gift,  worthy  of  the  man  who  bestowed  it.  Yet  its  mere 
financial  proportions  do  not  constitute  its  most  important 
significance.  The  design  of  reaching  the  lower  stratum 
of  society,  educating  those  who  must  have  remained  in 
relative  ignorance  and  degradation,  aside  from  such  gifts 
giving  life,  energy,  and  courage  to  the  despairing,  furnish- 
ing the  means  of  self-elevation,  self-improvement,  these 
features  overshadow  all  others ;  these  aspects  determine 
the  magnitude  and  the  true  benevolence  of  these  vast  chari- 
ties. Having;  no  children  of  his  own,  he  conceived  the 
grand  idea  of  adopting  the  unfortunate  of  his  native  and 
his  adopted  countries ;  wisely  bequeathing  to  them,  with  an 
affectionate  regard,  the  means  more  wisely  granted  than  by 
personal  bestowments,  squandered  or  exhausted  in  a  brief 
period  as  it  might  have  been  under  some  circumstances, 
by  which  future  generations  would  be  blessed,  remember- 
ing the  name  of  the  donor  as  a  father  indeed,  who  had 
more  regard  for  future  benefits,  real  prosperity,  and  con- 
tinuous fruitage,  than  for  brief  and  temporary  gratifications. 
Such  a  monument  will  outlive  marble  and  granite ;  such  a 
record  is  indeed  indelible. 


INTRODUCTION.  25 

To  the  young  men  of  this  country,  the  noble  example 
of  Mr.  Peabody  as  a  business-man,  a  man  achieving  and 
deserving  success ;  his  remarkable  prosperity ;  his  brilliant 
career ;  his  large-heartedness,  as  seen  in  the  outcropping 
in  his  vast  charities,  almost  prodigally  scattered,  all  sug- 
gesting the  idea  of  magnitude,  vastness,  —  to  such  his 
whole  life  has  a  peculiar  significance.  In  a  country  like 
ours  and  a  government  like  ours,  based  on  morality  and 
universal  intelligence,  with  the  schoolhouse  and  the 
church-edifice  as  the  "  front-guard  and  the  rearward,"  the 
foundations  cemented  with  as  pure  blood  as  ever  flowed 
in  patriot  veins,  "  large  expectations "  are  peculiarly  ap- 
propriate. While  the  invitation,  "  Go  up  and  possess  the 
land,"  seems  imprinted  in  bold  relief  on  our  public  institu- 
tions, or  is  rung  out  in  the  pealing  notes  of  the  bells  that 
call  the  young  to  the  halls  of  learning,  —  the  humbler 
ones,  the  "  people's  colleges,"  not  less  than  the  higher  in- 
stitutions, —  the  youth  of  our  favored  country  may  well  be 
emulous,  raise  high  the  standard  of  attainments,  and  aspire 
to  enviable  positions.  Still  in  its  infancy,  by  no  means 
•having  reached  the  vigor,  strength,  and  self-sustaining 
force  of  maturity,  but  even  now  joyous,  exuberant,  viva- 
cious, and  active,  as  if  in  the  springtime  of  life,  with  a  vast 
domain  unexplored,  and  still  more  but  partially  developed, 


26  INTEODUCTIOK 

with  mineral  resources  unfathomed,  natural  advantages  un- 
paralleled and  unappropriated,  our  country  is  peculiarly 
the  nurseiy  of  enterprise  and  industry,  and  the  foster- 
mother  of  generous  and  noble  aspirations.  Here  the  ave- 
nues to  wealth,  social  eminence,  enviable  distinction  in 
science,  literature,  oratory,  the  professions,  to  a  wide  field  of 
research,  —  all  are  thrown  wide  open  to  the  lowly  as  well 
as  to  those  occupying  higher  social  positions,  as  Qur  records 
in  the  past  amply  demonstrate ;  the  meed  of  praise  and 
the  badge  of  honor  having  been  bestowed  upon  the  off- 
spring of  some  of  the  most  lowly  of  our  citizens.  A  good 
education,  one  far  superior  to  that  acquired  by  the  young 
Peabody,  is  attainable  by  every  young  man  in  New  Eng- 
land, at  least,  if  blessed  with  even  medium  capabilities  and 
a,  will;  attainable,  indeed,  with  but  a  slight  expenditure  of 
funds,  since  the  State  has  adopted  the  fundamental  and 
ennobling  idea,  that  it  costs  less  to  educate  the  masses  than 
to  punish  crime.  With  such  an  education,  not  only  wisely 
and  mercifully  proffered,  but  almost  thrust  upon  the  recipi- 
ent, success  is  attainable  if  merited. 

It  is  important  for  the  young  men  of  this  country  to 
remember  that  Mr.  Peabody  was  not  merely  a  man  of 
finances,  not  merely  a  business-man,  and  that  wealth  was 
not  obtained  simply  for  its  possession.     As  soon  as  relief 


INTRODUCTION.  27 

from  his  crushing  cares  and  labors  would  admit,  and  proba- 
bly far  sooner,  in  some  degree,  at  least,  he  cast  about  him- 
self to  decide  what  judicious  disposition  should  be  made  of 
such  vast  accumulations ;  in  what  manner  he  might  bless 
society,  that  the  far-reaching  results  might  more  than  com- 
pensate for  the  toils,  anxieties,  and  unceasing  efforts  de- 
manded for  its  accumulation.  The  mere  accumulation, 
the  mere  possession,  with  no  high  and  noble  impulses,  no 
characteristic  philanthropic  emotions,  would  dwarf  the  in- 
tellect, congeal  the  generous  outgushings,  make  man  a 
miser,  the  despised  among  men,  instead  of  the  philan- 
thropist, the  friend  of  the  lowly,  held  in  grateful  remem- 
brance in  at  least  two  of  the  most  powerful  nations  of  the 
globe. 

Again :  the  avenues  to  distinction  are  open  to  the  young, 
aside  from  those  leading  simply  to  wealth.  There  are 
higher  honors  than  those  usually  merited  by  the  financier 
(Mr.  Peabody  modified  and  added  to  his  by  his  judiciously- 
bestowed  charities),  —  those  sought  in  paths  of  learning,  in 
the  labors  of  the  philanthropist,  &c. ;  though  financial  suc- 
cess seems  the  basis  of  other  enterprises,  furnishing  the 
means  of  producing  great  results. 

An  age  may  produce  but  one  identical  philanthropist- 
financier  like  Mr.  Peabody  ;    yet  the  major  part  of  the 


28  INTRODUCTION. 

young  of  this  age,  if  ready  to  throw  themselves  into  the 
arena  of  life's  struggles  and  labors,  if  willing  to  make  a 
sacrifice  of  personal  ease,  if  they  will  study  the  principles 
of  success,  concentrate  effort,  taking  Mr.  Peabody  as  a 
model,  may  make  their  mark,  be  remembered  in  succeed- 
ing ages  for  their  noble  deeds  and  their  meritorious  attain- 
ments. To  succeed  as  he  succeeded  demands  the  same 
instrumentalities,  the  same  temperance,  the  same  favorable 
personal  habits,  the  same  industry,  and  the  same  business 
capacity. 

I  cannot  better  close  this  chapter  than  by  transcribing 
the  beautiful  poem  of  Longfellow,  so  full  of  inspiration  and 
encouragement  to  the  young  :  — 

"  Tell  me  not,  in  mournful  numbers, 
Life  is  but  an  empty  dream  ; 
For  the  soul  is  dead  that  slumbers. 
And  things  are  not  what  they  seem. 

Life  is  real,  life  is  earnest, 

And  the  grave  is  not  its  goal : 
Dust  thou  art,  to  dust  returnest, 

Was  not  spoken  of  the  soul. 


In  the  world's  broad  field  of  battle, 

In  the  bivouac  of  life, 
Be  not  like  dumb,  driven  cattle  ; 

Be  a  hero  in  the  strife. 


INTRODUCTION.  29 

Trust  no  future,  howe'er  pleasant ; 

Let  the  dead  Past  bury  its  dead  : 
Act,  act  in  the  living  Present, 

Heart  within,  and  God  o'erhead. 

Lives  of  great  men  all  remind  us 

We  can  make  our  lives  sublime, 
And,  departing,  leave  behind  us 

Footprints  on  the  sands  of  time,  — 

Footprints  that  perhaps  another, 

Sailing  o'er  Life's  solemn  main,  — 
A  forlorn  and  shipwrecked  brother,  — 

Seeing,  shall  take  heart  again. 

Let  us,  then,  be  up  and  doing, 

With  a  heart  for  any  fate ; 

Still  achieving,  still  pursuing, 

Learn  to  labor  and  to  wait." 

J.  H.  H. 


THE  LIFE  OE  GEOBGE  PEABODY. 


CHAPTER    I. 

EARLY    DAYS. 

Ancestry.  —  Birthplace.  —  Childhood.  —  The    Young    Store-Keeper.  — 
Newburyport. 

"  A  flower,  though  offered  in  the  hud, 
Is  no  vain  sacrifice." — Watts. 

"They  that  seek  me  early  shall  find  me."  — Prov.  viii.  17. 

T  is  often  said  that  "the  child  is  father  of  the 
man ; "  and  in  no  small  degree  this  can  be  af- 
firmed of  every  prominent  statesman  or  phi- 
lanthropist. The  traits  evident  in  childhood 
are  often  prophecies  of  distinction  in  certain  paths  then 
indicated,  when  the  years  shall  have  given  gray  hairs  to 
the  brow,  and  maturity  to  all  the  mental  powers. 

This  was  eminently  true  of  George  Peabody,  the  finan- 
cier and  the  benevolent  giver  of  great  gifts.  His  child- 
hood foreshadowed  the  glory  of  his  later  years.  And  yet 
his  childhood  was  not  marked  by  incident,  or  memorable 

31 


32         THE  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  PEABODY. 

for  peculiarities.  Whatever  the  little  eccentricities  of  after- 
years,  his  childhood  was  not  in  any  sense  that  of  an  odd- 
ity. Men  and  women  thought  of  him  as  the  good  boy, 
the  faithful  son,  the  dutiful  child,  the  industrious  student, 
the  honest  youth ;  and,  if  they  sometimes  called  him  a 
"  mother-boy,"  it  was  not  because  he  was  shy  and  effemi- 
nate, and  wanting  in  boyish  energy  and  daring,  but  be- 
cause he  loved  his  mother  ;  and  it  was  the  joy  of  his  young 
life  to  add  any  thing  to  her  happiness. 

That  he  was  brave  and  honest,  upright  and  conscien- 
tious, is  not  at  all  strange  when  we  consider  his  ancestry. 
However  any  may  sneer  at  heraldic  emblems,  it  is  yet 
true,  that,  as  the  Scriptures  declare,  "  the  glory  of  children 
are  their  fathers ;  "  and  none  may  therefore  rightfully  de- 
spise a  pure  and  noble  ancestry.  The  genealogy  of  the 
Peabody  family  has  been  compiled  by  the  late  CM.  En- 
dicott  of  Salem,  and  revised  by  William  S.  Peabody  of 
Boston,  with  a  partial  record  of  the  Rhode-Island  branch 
by  B.  Frank  Pabodie,  in  the  spirit  of  those  who  adopted 
the  language  of  Job :  "  For  inquire,  I  pray  thee,  of  the 
former  age,  and  prepare  thyself  to  the  search  of  their 
fathers." 

In  the  same  spirit,  Nehemiah  Cleveland,  Esq.,  in  his 
address  at  the  Topsfield  Bi-Centennial  Celebration,  thus 
spoke  of  the  origin  of  the  Peabody  family  in  America :  — 

"  From  a  very  early  period  in  the  history  of  this  town, 

.the  Peabody  name  has  been  identified  with  it.     Thanks  to 

the  spirit  of  family  pride  or  of  antiquarian  curiosity,  great 


EARLY  DAYS.  33 

pains  have  been  recently  taken  to  dig  out  the  roots  and 
follow  out  the  branches  of  the  old  Peabody  tree.  Old  it 
may  well  be  called,  since  it  has  already  attained  to  a 
growth  of  nearly  two  thousand  years.  Boadie,  it  seems, 
was  the  primeval  name.  He  was  a  gallant  British  chief- 
tain, who,  in  the  year  A.D.  61,  came  to  the  rescue  of  his 
noble  and  chivalrous  Queen  Boadicea,  when  'bleeding 
from  the  Roman  rods.'  From  the  disastrous  battle  in 
which  she  lost  her  crown  and  life,  he  fled  to  the  Cambrian 
mountains.  There  his  posterity  lived,  and  became  the 
terror  of  the  Lowlands.  Thus  it  was  that  the  name  '  Pea,' 
which  means  '  mountain,'  was  prefixed  to  '  Boadie,'  which 
means  '  man.'  There  was  a  Peabody,  it  seems,  among  the 
knights  of  the  Round  Table  ;  for  the  name  was  first  regis- 
tered with  due  heraldic  honors  by  command  of  King  Arthur 
himself.  At  the  period  when  the  business  transactions  of 
this  town  begin  to  appear  on  record,  Lieut.  Francis  Pa- 
body  (this  was  the  orthography  of  the  name  at  that  period) 
was  evidently  the  first  man  in  the  place  for  capacity  and 
influence.  He  had  emigrated  from  St.  Alban's,  in  Hert- 
fordshire, England,  about  seventeen  miles  from  London,  in 
1635,  and  settled  at  Topsfield  in  1667,  where  he  remained 
until  his  death  in  1698.  His  wife  was  a  daughter  of  Re- 
ginald Foster,  honorably  mentioned  by  Sir  Walter  Scott 
in  'Marmion'  and  'The  Lay.'  Of  this  large  family, 
three  sons  settled  in  Boxford,  and  two  remained  in  Tops- 
field.  From  these  five  patriarchs  have  come,  it  is  said,  all 
the  Peabodys  in  this  country.     Among  those  of  this  name 


34         THE  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  PEABODY. 

who  nave  devoted  themselves  to  the  sacred  office,  the  Rev. 
Oliver  Peabody,  who  died  in  Natick  almost  a  hundred 
years  ago,  is  honorably  distinguished.  Those  twin  Pea- 
bodys  (now,  alas !  no  more),  William  Bourne  Oliver  and 
Oliver  William  Bourne,  twins  not  in  age  only,  but  in 
genius  and  virtue,  learning  and  piety,  will  long  be  remem- 
bered with  admiration  and  respect.  The  Rev.  David  Pea- 
body  of  this  town,  who  died  while  a  professor  in  Dart- 
mouth College,  deserves  honorable  mention.  A  kinsman 
of  his,  also  of  Topsfield,  is  at  this  moment  laboring,  a  de- 
voted missionary,  in  the  ancient  land  of  Cyrus.  The  Rev. 
Andrew  T.  Peabody  of  Portsmouth,  and  the  Rev.  Ephraim 
Peabody  of  Boston,  are  too  well  and  favorably  known  to 
require  that  I  should  more  than  allude  to  them.  Prof. 
Silliman  of  Yale  College  is  descended  from  a  Peabody. 

"  The  Peabody  name  has  abounded  in  brave  and  patriotic 
spirits.  Many  of  them  served  in  the  French  and  the  Rev- 
olutionary Wars.  One  of  them  fell  with  Wolfe  and  Mont- 
calm on  the  Plains  of  Abraham.  Another  assisted  at  the 
capture  of  Ticonderoga  and  of  Louisburg,  and  in  the  siege 
of  Boston.  Another  was  among  the  most  gallant  combatants 
on  Bunker  Hill.  Another  commanded  a  company  in  the 
Continental  army,  and  sent  his  sons  to  the  army  as  fast  as 
they  became  able.  One  more,  Nathaniel  Peabody  of  At- 
kinson, N.H.,  commanded  a  regiment  in  the  Revolutionary 
War,  and  subsequently  represented  his  State  in  the  Conti- 
nental Congress.  In  medicine  and  law,  the  reputation  of 
the  name  rests  more,  perhaps,  on   the   quality   than   the 


EAKLY  DAYS.  35 

number  of  practitioners.  In  commerce,  too,  this  family 
may  boast  at  least  one  eminent  example,  —  an  architect  of 
a  princely  fortune.     I  need  not  name  him." 

With  such  an  ancestry,  how  could  any  thing  but  honor 
and  honesty  be  expected  from  George  Peabody?  A 
"  mountain  man  "  was  he,  indeed,  from  his  very  boyhood : 
brave  and  noble  in  thought  and  action,  lofty  in  purpose, 
and  prompt  whenever  the  call  of  duty  came.  Well  said 
the  editor  of  the  published  account  of  the  "  Dan  vers  Cen- 
tennial Celebration,"  "  Might  we  invade  the  sanctuary  of 
his  early  home,  and  the  circle  of  his  immediate  connec- 
tions, we  could  light  around  the  youthful  possessor  of  a  few 
hundred  dollars  —  the  avails  of  the  most  severe  and  untir- 
ing efforts  —  a  brighter  halo  than  his  elegant  hospitalities, 
his  munificent  donations,  or  his  liberal  public  acts,  now 
shed  over  the  rich  London  banker." 

That  rich  banker  was  born  a  poor  boy,  in  the  town 
of  Dan  vers,  Mass.,  on  the  eighteenth  day  of  February, 
1795 ;  not  at  all  in  abject  poverty,  but  in  circumstances 
which  afforded  him  but  little  opportunity  for  education, 
save  for  the  first  decade  of  his  life  in  the  common  schools. 
Hon.  Alfred  A.  Abbott,  at  the  laying  of  the  corner-stone 
of  the  Peabody  Institute  in  Danvers,  remarked  concerning 
this  Danvers  boy,  "  The  character  and  history  of  Mr.  Pea- 
body have,  by  the  natural  course  of  things,  become  so 
familiar  to  us  within  the  last  year,  that,  like  his  name,  they 
have  almost  come  to  be  household  property.  How,  nearly 
threescore  years  ago,  in  a  very  humble  house  in  this  then 


36        THE  LIFE  OF  GEOKGE  PEABODY. 

quiet  village,  he  was  born,  the  son  of  respectable  parents, 
but  in  humble  circumstances;  how  from  the  common 
schools  of  the  parish,  such  as  they  were  from  1803  to  1807, 
to  use  his  own  simple  words,  he  obtained  the  limited  edu- 
cation his  parents'  means  could  afford,  but,  to  the  principles 
then  inculcated,  owing  much  of  the  foundation  for  such 
success  as  Heaven  has  been  pleased  to  grant  him  during  a 
long  business-life,"  —  all  this  Mr.  Abbott  thought  familiar 
to  the  Dangers  people  ;  and  so  it  was  and  is.  In  his  native 
place,  as  much  as  anywhere,  George  Peabody's  memory  is 
precious ;  and,  however  it  may  be  with  prophets,  with  this 
successful  and  beneficent  merchant  it  is  not  true  that  he 
is  "  not  without  honor  save  in  his  own  country  and  among 
his  own  people."  In  fact,  the  town  where  he  was  born  is 
now  called  by  his  name.  First  it  was  a  part  of  Salem ; 
then,  for  a  century,  it  was  known  as  Danvers  ;  for  a  season 
it  was  called  South  Danvers  ;  and  it  is  now  known  as  Pea- 
body,  in  honor  of  him  whose  brief  and  necessarily  imperfect 
memoir  is  here  presented. 

On  the  occasion  of  his  visit  to  Danvers  in  1856,  Hon.  A. 
A.  Abbott  said  to  his  fellow-citizens,  "  Here  was  Mr.  Pea- 
body's  home  ;  here  slumbered  the  honored  dust  of  his 
'  fathers  ;  here, 4  native  and  to  the  manor  born,'  he  passed  his 
youth  and  the  pleasant  days  of  his  early  life  ;  here  were 
many  of  those  who  had  been  his  schoolfellows  and  play- 
mates :  and  when  young  ambition,  and  devotion  to  those 
whom  misfortune  had  made  his  dependants,  and  the  first 
stirrings  of  that  great  energy  already  indicating  the  future 


EAELY  DAYS.  37 

triumph,  led  him  forth  to  other  and  broader  fields  of  labor, 
the  eyes  of  his  townsmen,  like  their  prayers  and  best 
wishes,  followed  him  ;  and,  from  that  day  to  this,  the  events 
of  his  life  and  his  whole  career  have  been  a  part  of  the 
public  and  most  treasured  property  of  the  town.  And,  all 
along,  what  returns  have  there  been  !  and  how  warmly  has 
this  regard  been  reciprocated  !  There  has  been  no  time 
when  we  have  not  been  in  George  Peabody's  debt.  Sepa- 
rated from  us  by  the  wide  ocean,  living  amid  the  whirl 
and  roar  of  the  world's  metropolis,  engrossed  with  the 
weightiest  concerns,  nattered  and  caressed  by  the  titled 
and  the  great,  that  '  heart  untravelled '  has  yet  clung  stead- 
fast to  its  early  love.  While,  wherever  his  lot  has  been 
cast,  every  worthy  object  of  charity  and  every  beneficent 
enterprise  has  received  his  ready  aid,  in  an  especial  man- 
ner has  he  remembered  and  endowed  us.  When  fire 
desolated  our  village,  and  swept  away  the  sacred  house 
where  in  childhood  he  listened  to  those  truths  which  have 
been  the  guide  and  solace  of  maturer  years,  he  helped  to 
rebuild  the  rafters  and  point  again  the  spire  to  heaven. 
When  a  pious  local  pride  would  rear  an  enduring  monu- 
ment to  the  memory  of  our  fathers  who  fell  in  the  first 
fight  of  the  Revolution,  it  was  his  bounty,  although  he 
lived  beneath  the  very  shadow  of  the  crown  from  which 
that  Revolution  snatched  its  brightest  jewel,  that  assisted  in 
rearing  the  granite  pile,  and  transmitting  to  future  ages 
the  names  and  heroic  deeds  of  our  venerated  martyrs.  So, 
when,  advancing  a  new  step  in  the  cause  of  public  educa- 


38        THE  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  PEABODY. 

tion,  this  town  established  two  high  schools  for  the  better 
culture  of  its  youth,  it  was  his  untiring  generosity  that 
awoke  new  life,  and  kindled  fresh  desire  for  knowledge,  by 
ordaining  a  system  of  prize-medals,  carefully  discriminating 
and  judicious,  and  which  will  embalm  his  name  in  the 
affections  of  unborn  generations  of  youthful  scholars 
And,  lastly,  when,  four  years  ago,  the  town  of  Danvers 
celebrated  the  centenary  of  its  municipal  life,  it  was  the 
same  constant,  faithful  friend  that  sent  to  our  festival  that 
noble  sentiment,  4  Education,  —  a  debt  due  from  present 
to  future  generations ; '  and,  in  payment  of  his  share  of 
that  debt,  o-ave  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  town  a  munificent 
sum  for  the  promotion  of  knowledge  and  morality  among 
them.  Since  that  day,  his  bounty  has  not  spared,  but  has 
flowed  forth  unceasingly,  until  the  original  endowment  has 
been  more  than  doubled,  and  until  here,  upon  this  spot,  is 
founded  an  institution  of  vast  immediate  good,  and  whose 
benefits  and  blessings  for  future  years,  and  upon  the  gen- 
erations yet  to  come,  no  man  can  measure.  Such  are  some 
of  the  reasons  why  the  .  news  of  Mr.  Peabody's  contem- 
plated visit  to  this  country  was  received  with  peculiar 
emotions  here  ;  why  every  heart  was  warmed  ;  why  all  the 
people,  with  one  accord,  desired  to  see  his  face  and  hear 
his  voice  ;  and  why  the  towns  of  Danvers  and  South  Dan- 
vers, in  their  corporate  capacities,  and  in  obedience  to 
the  popular  will,  extended  to  him,  on  his  arrival  upon  our 
shores,  an  invitation  to  visit  their  borders." 

Hon.  Robert  S.  Daniels %also  spoke  of  the  early  home  of 


EARLY  DAYS.  39 

the  subject  of  this  record,  and  of  him,  in  fitting  words,  as 
follows :  — 

"It  is  now  more  than  forty  years  since  Mr.  Peabody 
was  a  resident  of  this  town  ;  and  many  and  great  are  the 
changes  which  have  taken  place  during  that  period.  Many 
of  them  are  of  a  pleasing  character  :  some  of  them,  how- 
ever, which  are  the  result  of  the  universal  law  of  Nature, 
will  be  remembered  with  sorrow.  And  I  would  ask  with 
reference  to  these  changes,  in  the  language  of  Scripture, 
4  The  fathers  —  where  are  they  ?  '  They  are  all  gone. 
Their  seats  in  our  halls  and  in  our  churches  are  all  vacant. 
The  active  business-men  of  that  day  have  all  passed  from 
time  to  eternity. 

"  The  population  of  Danvers,  at  that  period,  was  about 
three  thousand  :  now  more  than  ten  thousand.  We  then 
had  but  two  churches  :  we  now  have  nine.  The  salaries 
paid  the  ministers  were  about  a  thousand  dollars,  and  now 
estimated  at  ten  thousand  dollars.  We  then  had  but  two 
or  three  public  schoolhouses  :  now  some  fifteen,  and  a  num- 
ber of  them  large  and  costly  buildings,  and  thronged  with 
hundreds  of  happy  children.  We  then  appropriated  about 
two  thousand  dollars  for  their  support :  now  about  ten  thou- 
sand dollars  ;  and  are  trying  to  pay  the  debt  due  from  pres- 
ent to  future  generations.  Our  old  public  avenues  are 
filled  with  dwellings  and  stores.  Many  new  streets  have 
been  located,  and  built  upon.  The  power  of  steam  was 
then  almost  unknown.  Railroads  are  now  laid  in  all  di- 
rections  through  our  town,  and  almost  thirty  trains  per 


40        THE  LIFE  OF  GEOKGE  PEABODY. 

day  pass  through  this  village.  We  then  had  no  banks,  and 
no  post-offices :  we  now  have  three  banks  and  four  post- 
offices.  And  I  feel  warranted  in  stating  that  the  business 
of  the  town  would  show  a  greater  increase  than  any  thing 
else. 

"  Mr.  Peabody  left  this  place  with  no  capital  but  a  good 
character  and  his  inherent  energy  and  firm  resolve.  He 
now  returns  to  us  under  circumstances  known  to  you  all : 
his  unparalleled  success  has  not  blotted  from  his  memory 
his  old  home  and  his  old  friends." 

It  was  Mr.  Peabody's  privilege,  and  he  always  felt  it  to 
be  such,  to  minister  to  the  comfort  of  his  widowed  mother ; 
and  the  minds  of  his  surviving  relatives,  who  knew  him 
in  childhood  and  youth,  are  stored  with  precious  memo- 
ries of  his  noble  deeds.  It  has  been  said  that  "  Mr. 
Peabody  did  not  bestow  many  gifts  to  relieve  individual 
poverty  or  distress :  he  thought  that  much  of  the  money 
thus  contributed  only  tended  to  increase  the  evil  it  sought 
to  alleviate."  But  it  is  certain  that  his  immediate  friends 
and  relatives  were  never  at  a  loss  to  know  the  character 
of  his  feelings  toward  them.  He  manifested  his  good  will 
by  word  and  deed,  as  freely,  in  proportion  to  his  means, 
when  he  had  but  a  few  hundred  dollars,  as  when  he  pos- 
sessed millions. 

From  a  child,  George  Peabody  had  to  rely  on  his  own 
exertions.  At  the  early  age  of  eleven,  he  was  apprenticed 
to  a  Mr.  Sylvester  Proctor,  who  kept  a  "  country  store  " 
of  groceries,  drugs,  &c,  in  Danvers.     Here,  for  four  years, 


EABLY  DAYS.  41 

he  was  a  faithful  laborer,  giving  great  satisfaction  by  his 
honesty,  promptness,  and  fidelity.  But,  at  the  age  of 
fifteen,  he  began  to  be  discontented.  He  longed  for  a 
change,  and  for  a  larger  field  of  action.  He  wanted  to 
engage  in  business  on  a  larger  scale.  Accordingly,  after 
he  had  spent  a  year  with  his  maternal  grandfather  in 
Vermont  (of  which  year  mention  will  be  made  in  another 
chapter),  he  joined  his  elder  brother,  David  Peabody,  in 
a  dry-goods  or  "  draper's  "  shop,  in  Newburyport.  This 
was  in  1811.  Here  he  was  the  same  faithful  young  man, 
exact  and  prompt  in  business,  and  winning  the  respect  of 
all  who  knew  him.  It  is  said  that  "  the  first  money  Mr. 
Peabody  earned  outside  of  the  small  pittance  he  received 
as  a  clerk  was  for  writing  ballots  for  the  Federal  party  in 
Newburyport.  This  was  before  the  day  of  printed  votes." 
His  penmanship  was  superior  in  beauty.  His  letters  were 
usually  brief,  and  very  much  to  the  point ;  but  they  were 
easily  read,  and  specially  enjoyable,  because  of  his  clear 
and  nice  chirography. 

Among  the  incidents  concerning  Mr.  Peabody's  early 
life,  "  The  Boston  Transcript  "  is  responsible  for  the  fol- 
lowing :  — 

"  Two  gentlemen  are  living,  who  were  friends  of  Mr. 
Peabody  in  boyhood,  and  who  willingly  paid  his  share  of 
the  cost  of  sailing  and  fishing  parties,  tenpins,  &c,  during 
the  war  of  1812-14;  his  excellent  company  being  con- 
sidered more  than  an  offset  to  his  lack  of  funds. 

"  The  late  Rev.  Daniel  Dana,  D.D.,  of  Newburyport, 


42        THE  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  PEABODY. 

was  the  clergyman  whose  preaching  first  attracted  Mr. 
Peabody's  attention  when  a  lad.  Dr.  Dana  was  uncle  to 
Mr.  Samuel  T.  Dana  of  this  city,  who  has  been  Mr. 
Peabody's  agent  of  late  years." 

During  young  Peabody's  stay  in  Newburyport  occurred 
a  great  fire,  which  destroyed  a  large  amount  of  property, 
and,  by  the  burning  of  his  brother's  sfore,  was  the  means 
of  causing  him  to  leave  that  town.  Mr.  Peabody,  in 
after-life,  claimed  to  be  the  first  to  give  the  alarm.  He 
was  putting  up  the  shutters  at  his  brother's  store,  when 
he  discovered  the  enemy.  Shortly  after,  he  went  away. 
The  years  of  his  boyhood  were  fully  past.  He  was  a 
young  man,  and  a  promising  merchant.  He  departed  to 
new  scenes  and  to  new  triumphs.  But  he  never  forgot 
that  town ;  and  afterwards  showed,  by  a  munificent  gift, 
his  interest  in  it.     "  The  Herald  "  of  that  place  says,  — 

"  The  cause  of  Mr.  George  Peabody's  interest  in  New- 
buryport was  not  alone  that  he  had  lived  here  for  a  brief 
period,  or  that  his  relatives  had  lived  here ;  but  rather  it 
was  the  warm  friendship  that  had  been  shown  him,  which 
was,  in  fact,  the  basis  of  his  subsequent  prosperity.  He 
left  here  in  1811,  and  returned  here  in  1857.  The  forty- 
six  intervening  years  had  borne  to  the  grave  most  of  the 
persons  with  whom  he  had  formed  acquaintance.  Among 
those  he  recognized  were  several  who  were  in  business,  or 
clerks,  on  State  Street  in  1811,  —  Messrs.  John  Porter, 
Moses  Kimball,  Prescott  Spaulding,  and  a  few  others. 
Mr.  Spaulding  was  fourteen  years  older  than  Mr.  Pea- 


EARLY   DAYS.  43 

body,  and  in  business  when  the  latter  was  a  clerk  with  his 
uncle,  Col.  John  Peabody.  Mr.  Peabody  was  here  in 
1857,  on  the  day  of  the  Agricultural  Fair,  and  was  walk- 
ing in  the  procession  with  the  late  Mayor  Davenport, 
when  he  saw  Mr.  Spaulding  on  the  sidewalk,  and  at  once 
left  the  procession  to  greet  him. 

"  Mr.  Spaulding  had  rendered  him  the  greatest  of  ser- 
vices. When  Mr.  Peabody  left  Newburyport,  he  was 
under  age,  and  not  worth  a  dollar.  Mr.  Spaulding  gave 
him  letters  of  credit  in  Boston,  through  which  he  obtained 
two  thousand  dollars'  worth  of  merchandise  of  Mr.  James 
Reed ;  and  Mr.  Reed  was  so  favorably  impressed  with  his 
appearance,  that  he  subsequently  gave  him  credit  for  a 
larger  amount.  This  was  his  start  in  life,  as  he  afterwards 
acknowledged ;  for  at  a  public  entertainment  in  Boston, 
when  his  credit  was  good  for  any  amount,  and  in  any  part 
of  the  world,  Mr.  Peabody  laid  his  hand  on  Mr.  Reed's 
shoulder,  and  said  to  those  present,  '  My  friends,  here  is 
my  first  patron  ;  and  he  is  the  man  who  sold  me  my  first 
bill  of  goods.'  After  he  was  established  in  Georgetown, 
D.C.,  the  first  consignment  made  to  him  was  by  the  late 
Francis  Todd  of  Newburyport.  It  was  from  these  facts 
that  Newburyport  was  always  pleasant  in  his  memory  ; 
and  the  donation  he  made  to  the  Public  Library  was  on 
his  own  suggestion,  that  he  desired  to  do  something  of  a 
public  nature  for  our  town." 

The  fact  was,  George  Peabody  loved  to  give,  and  was 
a  grateful,  appreciative  man  ;   and  this  chapter  concerning 


44         THE  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  PEABODY. 

his  early  days  cannot  be  better  closed  than  by  quoting  one 
of  the  best  things  said  by  him,  —  spoken  at  the  late  re- 
union in  his  native  town  :  — 

"  It  is  sometimes  hard  for  one,  who  has  devoted  the 
best  part  of  his  life  to  the  accumulation  of  money,  to  spend 
it  for  others;  but  practise  it,  and  keep  on  practising  it, 
and  I  assure  you  it  comes  to  be  a  pleasure." 


CHAPTER  II. 

OUT      IN      THE      WORLD. 

The  Commercial  Assistant.  —  Going   South.  —  Business-Habits.  —  Love 

Stories. 

"  A  wit's  a  feather,  and  a  chief  a  rod : 
An  honest  man's  the  noblest  work  of  God."  — Pope. 

"  Provide  things  honest  in  the  sight  of  all  men."  — Rom.  xii.  17. 

HE  burning  of  his  brother's  store  in  Newbury- 
port  left  George  Peabody  without  employment. 
But  he  was  not  one  to  eat  the  bread  of  idleness. 
He  sought  for  employment ;  and  his  uncle,  John 
Peabody,  who  had  settled  in  Georgetown,  adjoining  the 
Federal  capital,  invited  young  George  to  become  his  com- 
mercial assistant.  To  the  South,  for  the  first  time,  he 
went ;  and  there  he  tarried  two  years,  managing  with  pe- 
culiar ability  a  large  part  of  the  business,  though  still  in 
his  teens.  His  honesty  was  unquestionable,  his  tact  un- 
usual. Of  course,  he  succeeded  in  winning  friends  and 
securing  trade. 

No  wonder  that  he  always  felt  an  interest  in  the  South. 
Thither  he  had  gone  when  the  avenue  to  business-success 

45 


46        THE  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  PEABODY. 

seemed  closed  to  him  at  the  North  by  the  misfortune  of 
that  great  Newburyport  fire ;  and,  with  his  well-known 
gratitude,  it  is  not  strange,  that,  in  after-years,  to  him  the 
South  was  remembered  more  as  the  refuge  of  the  young 
seeker  after  profitable  employment  than  as  the  antipodes 
of  the  North.  In  those  days,  there  was  no  North  or  South 
mentioned  in  contrast :  but  to  him  the  vicinity  of  the  Fed- 
eral capital  was  as  much  a  part  of  his  native  land  as  any 
other  portion ;  and  he  loved  it  all.  So  the  South  became  as 
a  home  to  him  ;  and  he  always  looked  back  to  Georgetown 
and  its  vicinity  as  a  child  looks  back  to  the  shelter  and 
comfort  of  a  father's  roof. 

Here  the  young  merchant  made  many  friends  by  his  af- 
fability and  consistent  politeness.  According  to  testimony 
gathered  from  those  who  knew  him  personally,  Dr.  Hana- 
ford  states,  that,  — 

"  Unlike  most  persons  in  similar  circumstances,  —  and, 
indeed,  those  possessing  far  less  wealth  and  enjoying  far 
less  reputation,  —  he  never  seemed  to  assume  unusual  im- 
portance, or  demanded  special  favors.  He  was  bland,  so- 
cial, and  genial ;  indicating  by  his  general  manner  a  willing- 
ness to  converse  with  those  with  whom  he  accidentally 
came  in  contact,  yet  never  arrogating  to  himself  the  right 
to  monopolize  conversation.  It  seemed  to  be  his  wish  to 
travel  like  other  men,  mingle  with  his  fellows  as  an  equal ; 
manifesting  a  commendable  retiring  and  modest  spirit.  At 
the  station,  if  he  wished  attention,  his  baggage  disposed  of, 
he  was  willing  to  await  his  turn  ;  manifesting  no  impatience, 


OUT  IN  THE  WORLD.  47 

and  then  saying  that  he  had  '  baggage  to  put  in  the  room, 
when  you  are  at  liberty,'  &c. ;  never  manifesting  by  his 
manner  that  he  claimed  any  special  attention  or  favors : 
while  he  never  failed  to  express  his  gratitude  and  acknowl- 
edgments for  favors  and  attentions  extended  to  him. 
Politeness  seemed  a  special  and  remarkably  prominent 
characteristic,  manifested  on  what  would  be  ordinarily  re- 
garded as  unimportant  occasions  ;  yet  he  seemed  to  regard 
all  occasions,  while  mingling  with  his  fellows,  as  of  suffi- 
cient importance  to  justify  respectful  consideration,  and  the 
manifestation  of  a  refined  politeness  commanding  the  re- 
spect of  all  who  knew  him.  It  is  probable  that  his  success 
in  business  was  attributable,  in  part  at  least,  to  his  respect- 
ful bearing,  his  affability,  and  his  general  correctness  of 
deportment. 

"  In  this  connection,  it  is  proper -to  say  that  Mr.  Peabody 
was  a  remarkable  man  in  his  intercourse  with  his  fellows. 
It  was  the  remark  of  a  station-agent,  —  one  intimately  ac- 
quainted with  him,  —  that  he  was  a  '  comfortable  man  to 
have  around  ; '  that  he  would  be  a  '  popular  man  if  he  was 
not  worth  a  dollar.'  Though  a  man  of  large  wealth, — 
one  who  was  the  object  of  general  admiration,  not  for  his 
money  only,  but  for  his  own  sake,  on  whom  many  and 
distin o-uished  honors  were  bestowed  with  a  lavish  hand,  — 
he  was  apparently  unconscious  of  remarkable  merit. 

"  Mr.  Peabody  was  scrupulously  exact  and  punctual  in 
the  discharge  of  his  obligations ;  not  only  those  relating  to  his 
financial  transactions,  but  personal  obligations,  —  those  con- 


48        THE  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  PEABODY. 

nected  with  his  intercourse  with  his  fellows  in  the  ordinary 
walks  of  life.  The  following  incidents  will  well  illustrate 
his  characteristics  in  these  relations.  While  spending  a 
short  time  with  his  sister,  Mrs.  Daniels,  at  Georgetown, 
in  1857,  he  said  to  Mr.  P.,  the  conductor,  '  Mr.  P.,  I 
am  considerably  isolated,  and  do  not  see  the  papers  as  I 
would  wish.  Please  bring  me  some  of  the  Boston  dailies.' 
When  asked  what  ones  he  would  prefer,  he  decided  to  see 
'  The  Advertiser '  as  a  commercial  paper,  and  '  The 
Post,'  that  he  might  read  both  sides  in  politics.  These 
were  promptly  delivered  by  the  gentlemanly  and  accommo- 
dating conductor,  who  was  very  willing  to  indicate  his  re- 
spect for  such  a  man  by  an  act  of  kindness ;  never  think- 
ing that  he  should  merit  or  receive  any  special  notice  from 
the  financier. 

"  Some  weeks  after,  while  riding  in  the  cars,  as  he  fre- 
quently did,  between  Georgetown,  Boston,  Salem,  &c, 
Mr.  Peabody  asked  his  indebtedness  to  the  conductor  for 
the  papers,  &c.  He  was  assured  that  he  was  very  wel- 
come, and  that  he  esteemed  it  a  privilege  to  confer  such 
favors  upon  one  who  was  doing  so  much  for  humanity  ;  and 
that  it  was  a  very  trifling  affair  on  his  part.  But  little  was 
said  on  the  subject,  and  they  parted  at  the  station. 

"  Some  months  afterward,  the  conductor  received  by  ex- 
press a  beautiful  morocco  case,  which,  when  opened,  was 
found  to  contain  several  photographs  of  Mr.  Peabody, 
taken  in  different  postures,  &c,  executed  in  different  parts 
of  Europe  ;  an  embossed  silver  vase,  about  eight  inches  in 


OUT  IN  THE   WORLD.  49 

height,  of  exquisite  workmanship,  with  the  conductor's  name 
en  craved  on  it,  and  the  name  of  the  distinguished  donor. 
It  also  contained  an  autograph-letter,  in  which  he  was  re- 
quested to  4  transmit  these  articles  to  his  children  as  a 
memorial-gift,'  indicating  the  esteem  of  the  donor  for  the 
recipient.  It  is  probable  that  the  conductor's  gentlemanly 
bearing  toward  the  distinguished  traveller,  his  politeness, 
and  general  accommodating  spirit,  may  have  suggested  the 
honor  conferred,  since  he  had  been  heard  to  say  that  he 
always  felt  at  home  in  his  train;  as  other  travellers  will 
also  testify."  • 

"  The  Boston  Post,"  shortly  after  the  departure  of  Mr. 
Peabody,  contained  an  article  concerning  his  personal  and 
business  habits,  from  which  the  following  extracts  are 
taken :  — 

"  Mr.  Peabody,  say  his  old  friends  and  neighbors  at  Sa- 
lem, was  eminently  a  peculiar  man.  Possessing  a  strong 
will  and  firm  determination  in  the  carrying-out  of  his  pur- 
poses, he  obtained  at  once  the  respect  and  admiration  of 
those  with  whom  he  came  in  contact.  Although,  like  a 
genuine  Yankee,  Mr.  Peabody  was  fond  of  a  good  bar- 
gain, his  every  action  was  beyond  the  breath  of  a  suspi- 
cion of  meanness.  His  desire  was  only  to  be  treated  as 
other  men  were.  Several  years  ago,  there  lived  in  Salem 
a  hackman  named  Davis,  who  was  more  remarkable  for  his 
independence  and  plain-speaking  than  for  the  quality  of  his 
accommodations.  His  prices,  also,  were  below  those  of 
his  competitors.     Mr.   Peabody  rode  with  this  hackman 

4 


50         THE  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  PEABODY. 

one  day,  and,  on  arriving  at  his  destination,  tendered  the 
usual  fee  of  fifty  cents. 

"  L  Here's  your  change,  sir,'  said  Davis,  returning  at  the 
sa,       time  fifteen  cents. 

"  '  Change  ! '  exclaimed  Mr.  Peabody  :  '  why,  I'm  not 
entitled  to  any.' 

"  '  Yes,  you  are :  I  don't  tax  but  thirty-five  cents  for  a 
ride  in  my  hack.' 

u  '  How  do  you  live,  then  ? ' 

"  '  By  fair-dealing,  sir.  I  don't  believe  in  making  a  man 
pa^  more  than  a  thing  is  worth  just  because  I've  got  an 
opportunity.' 

"  Mr.  Peabody  was  so  pleased  with  this  reply,  that  he 
ever  after  sought  Davis  out,  and  gave  him  the  bulk  of  his 
patronage.  This,  however,  was  not  very  remunerative. 
Mr.  Peabody  cherished  an  inveterate  dislike  to  parade,  and 
carried  this  feeling  sometimes  to  a  ridiculous  length.  When 
at  the  zenith  of  his  fortune,  he  has  been  known  to  stand 
out-doors  for  some  minutes  in  a  drenching  storm  because 
he  preferred  a  horse-car  to  a  hackney-coach.  This  feeling 
extended  even  to  his  dress.  His  plain  and  substantial  garb 
exhibited  no  token  of  the  wealth  of  its  wearer,  and  was 
shaped  in  the  plainest  and  most  substantial  manner.  He 
very  seldom  wore  an  article  of  jewelry.  His  watch  was 
attached  to  a  plain,  black-silk  guard  ;  and  pearl  buttons  only 
were  visible  in  his  shirt-bosom.  Until  his  last  visit  to  this 
country,  Mr.  Peabody  refused,  notwithstanding  the  repeat- 
ed solicitations  of  his  friends,  to  employ  a  valet ;  preferring 


OUT  IN  THE   WORLD.  51 

to  discharge  the  duties  of  his  own  toilet.  These  duties, 
however,  became  irksome  with  declining  years ;  and  he 
finally  consented  to  lay  them  off  his  shoulders.  He  there- 
fore took  with  him  to  England  a  favorite  and  trusty  ser- 
vant who  had  been  in  the  family  of  a  relative  for  many 
years,  and  whose  position  was  rather  that  of  a  confidential 
friend  than  a  menial.  This  man  was  with  Mr.  Peabody 
from  the  time  of  his  departure,  last  August,  up  to  the  hour 
of  his  death,  and  will  accompany  the  remains  to  this  coun- 
try." 

Newspaper  reports  are  often  unreliable,  but  yet  full  of 
interest ;  and  when,  among  the  questions  asked  concerning 
Mr.  Peabody,  came  this,  "  Why  was  he  never  married?  " 
"  The  Boston  Transcript"  made  a  partial  attempt  to  solve 
it  in  these  words  :  — 

"About  a  quarter  of  a  century  ago,  Mr.  Peabody  was 
so  much  pleased  with  an  American  lady  visiting  London, 
that  he  offered  her  his  hand  and  fortune,  which  were  ac- 
cepted. Learning,  a  short  time  afterwards,  that  she  was 
already  engaged,  —  a  fact  of  which  she  had  kept  him  in 
ignorance,  —  he  rebuked  her  lack  of  sincerity,  and  broke 
off  the  engagement." 

Another  newspaper  created  a  sensation  with  an  article 
headed,  "  A  Romantic  Episode  in  the  Life  of  George  Pea- 
body," and  went  on  to  state  as  follows :  — 

"  The  reason  why  George  Peabody,  the  great  philan- 
thropist, remained  a  bachelor  all  his  life,  may  be  explained, 
perhaps,  by  the  following  chapter  in  his  history  :  — 


52  THE   LIFE   OF   GEORGE   PEABODY. 

"  When  Mr.  Peabody  was  just  entering  upon  his  career 
of  success  as  a  business-man,  in  Baltimore,  he  met  by 
chance  a  poor  girl,  who  was  but  a  child,  but  whose  face 
and  gentle  manner  attracted  his  notice.  Questioning  her 
in  regard  to  parentage  and  surroundings,  he  found  her  in 
every  way  worthy  his  regard,  and  a  fit  subject  for  his  bene- 
faction. He  at  once  adopted  her  as  his  ward,  and  gave 
her  an  education.  As  she  advanced  in  age,  her  charms  of 
person,  as  well  as  brightness  of  intellect,  won  the  affections 
of  her  benefactor.  Through  this  relationship,  he  had  an 
ample  opportunity  of  watching  her  progress  ;  and  day  by 
day  her  hold -upon  his  affections  grew  stronger. 

"  At  length,  as  the  ward  bloomed  into  womanhood, 
though  much  her  senior  in  years,  Mr.  Peabody  offered  her 
his  hand  and  fortune.  Greatly  appreciating  his  generosity, 
and  acknowledging  her  attachment  for  him  as  a  father,  she, 
with  great  feeling,  confessed  that  honor  compelled  her  to 
decline  the  acceptance  of  this  his  greatest  act  of  generos- 
ity ;  informing  her  suitor  that  her  affections  had  been  given 
to  another,  a  clerk  in  the  employ  of  her  benefactor. 

"  Though  disappointed  and  grievously  shocked,  the  phi- 
lanthropist sent  for  his  clerk  ;  and,  learning  from  him  that 
the  engagement  had  been  of  long  duration,  Mr.  Peabody  at 
once  established  his  successful  rival  in  business,  and  soon 
after  gave  his  benediction  upon  the  marriage  of  his  ward. 
This,  it  is  said,  was  the  first  blow  his  heart  received  ;  and  it 
is  possible  that  from  this  episode  came  the  inspiration  that 
made   the  future  of   Mr.  Peabody  so   universally  distin- 


OUT   IN  THE   WOr.LD.  53 

guished,  aid  has  rendered  his  name  famous  as  a  remark- 
able public  benefactor." 

But  "  The  Providence  Journal  "  claims  to  be  best  in- 
formed of  any,  and  publishes  from  an  anonymous  corre- 
spondent the  following :  — 

"  A  story  has  been  going  the  rounds  of  the  newspapers, 
giving  as  a  reason  why  Mr.  Peabody  was  never  married, 
that  he  adopted  a  young  girl,  whom,  after  she  grew  up,  he 
wished  to  make  his  wife ;  but,  finding  that  she  preferred  a 
clerk  in  his  establishment  to  the  chief  of  the  house,  he 
4  never  told  his  love,'  but  calmly  gave  her  up,  and  saw 
her  married  to  a  younger  rival.  Of  the  truth  of  that  story 
I  know  nothing  ;  but  I  can  vouch  for  this  that  I  km  now 
going  to  relate  :  — 

"  More  than  thirty  years  ago,  in  the  far-famed  school  of 
that  prince  of  teachers,  John  Kingsbury,  was  one  of  the 
fairest  of  all  the  fair  daughters  of  Providence,  celebrated 
far  and  near  though  that  city  has  ever  been  for  its  lovely 
girls.  Her  school-education  finished,  she  went  with  friends 
to  Europe  ;  not,  however,  before  having  given  her  youth- 
ful affections  to  a  young  man  whom  she  had  met  in  a  sister- 
city.  But,  before  marriage  had  consummated  their  happi- 
ness, adversity  came  upon  him,  and  he  found  himself  in  no 
situation  to  marry.  He  was  not  willing  she  should  waste 
her  youth  and  glorious  beauty  in  waiting  through  long 
years  for  the  day  to  come  when  he  could  call  her  his  own  : 
so  he  released  her  from  her  vows,  and  they  parted ;  she 
going,  as  I  said  before,  to  Europe. 


54         THE  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  PEABODY. 

"  There  she  met  George  Peabody,  then,  comparatively 
speaking,  a  young  man,  but  one  who  was  already  making 
his  mark,  and  whose  wealth  was  beginning  to  pour  in  on 
every  side. 

"  He  saw  her,  and  was  struck  (as  who  that  ever  saw  her 
was  not  struck?)  with  her  grace,  her  winning  ways,  her 
exceeding  loveliness ;  and,  after  a  while,  he  '  proposed.' 
Her  heart  still  clung  to  her  loved  one  across  the  wide  At- 
lantic ;  but,  after  some  time,  she  yielded  perhaps  to  the 
wishes  of  her  friends,  perhaps  to  the  promptings  of  worldly 
ambition  :  who  can  tell  ?  Who  can  fathom  the  heart  of  a 
young  and  beautiful  maiden  ?  She  became  the  affianced 
wife  of  Mr.  Peabody.  After  a  little  interval,  she  came 
back  to  this  country,  and,  soon  after  her  arrival,  met  her 
first  love,  and,  after-events  justify  me  in  saying,  her 
'only  love.'  At  sight  of  him,  all  her  former  affection 
came  back,  —  if,  indeed,  it  had  ever  left  her,  —  and  Mr. 
Peabody,  with  his  wealth  and  brilliant  prospects,  faded 
away ;  and  she  clung  with  fond  affection  to  her  American 
lover,  and  was  willing  to  share  a  moderate  income  with  the 
chosen  of  her  heart.  All  was  told  to  Mr.  Peabody ;  and 
he,  with  that  manliness  that  characterized  his  every  action, 
gave  her  up,  and  in  due  time  she  was  married,  and  settled 
in  a  city  not  more  than  three  hundred  miles  from  Provi- 
dence. Wli.it  she  suffered  in  coming  to  a  final  conclusion 
was  known  to  but  few.  Her  fair  cheeks  lost  their  round- 
ness, and  grew  wan  and  pale  ;  her  lovely  eyes  had  a 
mournful   wistfulness   that    touched    every    heart.      Some 


OUT  IN  THE   WORLD.  55 

blamed  her:  others  praised  her.  Those  who  were  am- 
bitious of  worldly  honors  pronounced  her  4  mad,'  4  foolish,' 
to  throw  over  a  man  like  George  Peabody,  whose  ever-in- 
creasing wealth  would  bestow  every  luxury  upon  her,  and 
place  her  in  a  position  in  London  that  would  make  her  lot 
an  envied  one,  to  marry  a  man  who  might  never  have  more 
than  a  limited  income  to  live  upon.  Others  —  and  shall  I 
say  the  nobler  part  ?  — justified  her  in  thinking  that  love, 
true  love,  was  more  to  be  desired  than  wealth  or  earthly 
fame. 

"  The  painful  conflict  was  at  length  ended.  Her  true 
womanhood  vindicated  itself,  and  she  wavered  no  more. 

"  I  well  remember,  when  in  London,  twenty-eight  years 
ago,  hearing  all  this  talked  over  in  a  chosen  circle  of  Ameri- 
can friends;  and  also,  at  a  brilliant  dinner-party  given  by 
Gen.  Cass  in  Versailles,  it  was  thoroughly  discussed  in  all 
its  length  and  breadth.  Whether,  in  his  visit  to  this  coun- 
try, Mr.  Peabody  ever  met  his  once-affianced  bride,  I  can- 
not say ;  neither  do  I  know  whether,  when  she  heard  of 
his  more  than  princely  wealth,  her  heart  ever  gave  a  sigh 
at  the  thought,  'All  this  might  have,  been  mine.'„ 

"  After  several  years  of  wadded?,  biiss,  death  took  her 
husband  from  her  side,  when  the  glorious  Liveliness  of* 
her  youth  had  ripened  jnto  the  full-,  luxuriance  of  perfect 
matronhood."  »    ** 


CHAPTER    III. 


PATRIOTISM. 


The  Citizen-Soldier.  —  The  First  Partnership.  —  The  Travelling  Member 
of  the  Firm.  —  Life  in  Baltimore. 

"  Breathes  there  the  man  with  soul  so  dead 
Who  never  to  himself  hath  said, 

'  This  is  my  own,  my  native  land '?"  —  Scott. 

"Every  man  to  his  own  country."—  1  Kings  xxii.  36. 

[MONG  the  peculiar  characteristics  which  Amer- 
icans have  exhibited,  or  at  least  among  the 
virtues  they  have  made  prominent  in  their 
national  career,  is  love  of  country.  Patriot- 
ism, fromcthe  hour  when  this  land  was  declared  free  from 
ail  other  jurisdiction,  has  always  been  found  in  the  Ameri- 
can heart ;  and  the  deaiu old  flag  has  ever  had  its  faithful 
followers  ,  Some  of  George,  ^eabody's  ancestors  were 
among  the  Ite vokuionary  heroes^  and  so  it  was  not  strange, 
that  in  the. war  of  181,2,  which  occurred  when  he  was  a 
young  man,  and,  daring  the  early  part  of  the  Georgetown 
period  of  his  life,  he  exhibited  qualities  which  proved  that 
he  was  not  unworthy  of  them.     The  war  with  the  mother- 

56 


PATRIOTISM.  57 

country,  long  threatened,  appeared  inevitable ;  for  the 
British  fleet  had  ascended  the  Potomac,  and  were  menacing 
the  capital.  This  roused  the  patriotism  of  the  young  mer- 
chant;  and,  though  he  had  not  yet  reached  the  age  when 
military  service  could  be  required  of  him,  he  joined  a  vol- 
unteer company  of  artillery,  and  soon  found  himself  on 
duty  at  Fort  Warburton,  which  commanded  the  river- 
approach  to  Washington.  "  Appletons'  Journal  "  states, 
that  "  for  this  service,  together  with  a  previous  short  ser- 
vice at  Newburyport,  Mr.  Peabody  lately  received  one  of 
the  grants  of  one  hundred  acres  of  land,  bestowed  under 
certain  conditions,  by  act  of  Congress,  upon  the  defenders 
of  the  Republic  at  this  perilous  time ;  "  and,  to  use  the 
words  of  an  American  writer,  "  if  he  gained  here  no  mili- 
tary honors,  at  least  he  showed  that  he  had  within  him  the 
soul  of  a  patriot  and  the  nerve  of  a  soldier." 

After  spending  two  years  in  the  employment  of  his 
uncle,  he  entered  into  partnership  in  a  wholesale  drapery 
business  with  Mr.  Elisha  Riggs ;  Mr.  Riggs  furnishing  the 
capital  for  the  concern,  and  young  Peabody  agreeing  to 
'transact  the  business.  It  is  said,  that,  "  when  Mr.  Riggs 
invited  Mr.  Peabody  to  be  a  partner,  the  latter  said  there 
was  one  insuperable  objection,  as  he  was  only  nineteen 
years  of  age.  This  was  no  objection  in  the  mind  of  the 
shrewd  merchant,  who  wanted  a  young  and  active  assist- 
ant." His  unfaltering  perseverance  and  'indomitable 
energy  had  full  scope  ;  and  they  who  may  be  supposed  to 
know  of  the  matter,  say,  that,  to  all  concerned,  the  part- 


58  THE  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  PEABODY. 

nership  of  Riggs  &  Peabody  proved  a  most  successful 
and  satisfactory  arrangement.  In  1815,  the  house  was  re- 
moved to  Baltimore;  and,  seven  years  later,  its  extended 
operations  were  such  as  to  justify  the  establishing  and 
opening  of  brandies  at  Philadelphia  and  New  York  :  and 
about  the  year  1830,  by  the  retirement  of  Mr.  Riggs, 
George  Peabody  found  himself  the  senior  partner  and  the 
virtual  director  of  one  of  the  largest  of  mercantile  firms. 

In  one  of  the  large,  illustrated  English  papers,  — 
"  The  London  News,"  — a  fair  portrait  of  Mr.  Peabody  is 
given,  and  a  brief  sketch  of  his  career,  in  which  the 
writer,  from  his  stand-point,  thus  describes  the  Baltimore 
partnership  of  which  mention  has  been  already  made  : 
"  The  short  war  being  over,  his  proved  skill  and  diligence- 
in  trade  brought  him  the  offer  of  a  partnership  in  a  new 
concern.  It  was  that  of  Mr.  Elisha  Riggs,  who  was  about 
to  commence  the  sale  of  ;  dry  goods '  —  all  sorts  of 
clothing -stuffs,  as  distinguished  from  c  groceries  '  — 
throughout  the  Middle  States  of  the  Union.  .  .  .  Peabody 
acted  as  bagman,  and  often  travelled  alone  on  horseback 
through  the  western  wilds  of  New  York  and  Pennsylva-' 
nia,  or  the  plantations  of  Maryland  and  Virginia,  if  not 
farther  ;  lodging  with  farmers  or  gentlemen  slave-owners, 
and  so  becoming  acquainted  with  every  class  of  people 
and  every  way  of  living.  .  .  .  Mr.  Peabody's  character 
as  a  man  of  superior  integrity,  discretion,  and  public  spirit, 
already  distinguished  him  from  others.  He  coveted 
no  political  office  ;  he   courted  the  votes   of  no  party  ;  he 


PATRIOTISM.  59 

waited  upon  no  '  caucus  ; '  put  his  foot  down  upon  no 
4  platform  ; '  went  for  no  4  ticket ; '  but  held  aloof  from  the 
hateful  strife  of  rival  American  factions.  He  chose  rather 
to  bestow  on  his  native  Commonwealth  the  most  perfect 
example  of  justice,  honor,  and  liberality  in  social  life, 
with  the  quiet  self-culture  of  individual  manhood.  A 
republic  composed  of  such  persons  would  have  small  need 
of  political  cunning.  The  honest  man  was  so  much 
greater  than  the  state  or  nation,  that,  while  he  sat  at 
home,  they  came  to  him  for  aid  and  counsel.  His  private 
morality  and  prudence  were  invoked  to  redeem  the  disas- 
ters of  public  finance.  So  it  has  often  happened  in  the 
history  of  such  affairs :  the  worth  of  one  good  citizen,  as 
it  saved  Maryland  from  bankruptcy,  would  save  a  whole 
empire  in  many  a  similar  case.1' 

The  allusions  of  the  English  writer  will  be  more  easily 
comprehended  by  reading  the  subjoined  extract  from  the 
address  of  Gov.  Swann  of  Maryland,  when,  on  the 
1st  of  November,  1866,  Mr.  Peabody  was  welcomed  to 
the  State  by  the  Trustees  of  the  Peabody  Institute,  which 
his  liberality  had  established,  and  of  which  further  men- 
tion will  be  made. 

The  governor  said,  "In  the  financial  crisis  of  1837, 
which  spread  over  this  whole  Union,  affecting  more  or 
less  almost  every  State  within  our  limits,  when  we  re- 
quired countenance  and  support  abroad,  you,  sir,  stood  the 
fast  friend  of  the  State  of  Maryland  [applause]  ;  and  by 
your  efforts,  by  the  weight  of  your  great  name,  pointed 


60         THE  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  PEABODY. 

us  to  that  career  of  prosperity  and  success  in  the  manage- 
ment of  our  financial  affairs  which  has  placed  us  to-day, 
I  will  not  say  in  advance,  but  by  the  side,  of  the  most 
prosperous  of  our  sister  States.  For  this,  Mr.  Peabody, 
the  State  of  Maryland  owes  you  a  debt  of  gratitude. 
[Applause.]  And  I  consider  myself  fortunate  that  this 
opportunity  is  afforded  me,  in  the  presence  of  this  vast 
audience  here  assembled,  to  make  this  acknowledgment, 
due  to  the  important  services  rendered  to  our  State.  .  .  . 
Your  career  has  been  one  of  uninterrupted  prosperity.  In 
all  the  business  of  life,  you  have  adorned  by  your  honesty 
and  straight-forwardness  every  position  in  which  you  have 
been  placed.  And  no  man,  Mr.  Peabody,  whether  living 
or  dead,  in  this  country  or  any  country,  has  attracted  a 
larger  share  of  the  public  attention  by  works  of  disinter- 
ested charity  and  benevolence.  [Applause.]  You  have 
not  lived  for  yourself  alone.  Two  hemispheres  attest  your 
princely  liberality.  Returning  to  your  native  country 
after  so  many  years'  absence,  crowned  with  all  the  honors 
that  human  applause  can  bestow  upon  a  private  citizen, 
not  excepting  the  applause  of  royalty  itself,  I  feel  proud, 
standing  within  the  walls  of  this  noble  institution,  the  work 
of  your  own  hands,  for  which  we  are  indebted  to  your 
unaided  liberality,  to  say,  sir,  that  I  speak  here  to-day,  not 
only  the  sentiments  of  the  vast  crowd  before  me,  but  of 
the  whole  State  of  Maryland,  when  I  assure  you,  that,  in 
honoring  George  Peabody,  we  honor  ourselves."  [Ap- 
plause.] 


PATRIOTISM.  61 

Mr.  Peabody's  response  to  these  words  of  Gov.  Swann 
have  such  reference  to  his  life  in  Baltimore,  that  it  is  here 
inserted :  — 

"  Your  Excellency,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen,  —  I 
thank  you  most  kindly  for  the  honor  which  the  Governor 
of  Maryland  has  done  me  in  the  sentiment  which  he  has 
expressed  ;  and  I  thank  you,  ladies  and  gentlemen,  for 
the  enthusiasm  which  you  have  been  so  kind  as  to  mani- 
fest at  the  mention  of  my  name.  [Enthusiastic  applause.] 
The  Governor  of  Maryland  has  referred  to  the  assistance 
which  he  gives  me  the  credit  of  performing  thirty  years 
ago,  or  more,  for  the  resuscitation,  in  some  measure,  of  the 
credit  of  the  State  of  Maryland.  The  same  compliment 
was  yesterday  paid  me  by  the  Mayor  and  Council  in  ref- 
erence to  the  same  subject.  I  will,  therefore,  only  say  to 
you,  that  what  I  did  at  that  time,  any  pledge  that  I  ever 
made  at  that  time,  has  been  fully  sustained  by  the  State 
of  Maryland  throughout  the  duration  of  that  time. 

"It  is  upward  of  half  a  century  since  I  came  from 
Georgetown,  in  the  District  of  Columbia,  where  I  had  for 
some  time  been  in  business,  to  reside  in  this  city.  I  was 
then  but  twenty  years  of  age,  and  commenced  business  in 
company  with  Mr.  Elisha  Riggs  of  Georgetown,  at  21o| 
Market  Street,  then  called  '  Old  Congress  Hall ; '  and 
there  it  was  that  I  gained  the  first  five  thousand  dollars 
of  the  fortune  with  which  Providence  has  crowned  my 
exertions.     From  that  period,  for  twenty  years  of  my  life, 


62         THE  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  PEABODY. 

though  a  New-England  man,  and  though  strong  prejudices 
existed,  even  at  that  time,  between  the  Northern  and 
Southern  States,  I  never  experienced  from  the  citizens  of 
Baltimore  any  thing  but  kindness,  hospitality,  and  confi- 
dence. 

"  It  would,  then,  be  strange  indeed  if  I  were  not  deeply 
attached  to  Baltimore;  and  from  the  time  of  which  I  have 
spoken,  to  the  present  moment,  I  have  ever  cherished  the 
warmest  and  most  grateful  feelings  towards  the  inhabitants 
of  this  beautiful  city,  where  I  entered  upon  a  business- 
career  which  has  been  so  prosperous. 

"  And  although  I  have  lived  abroad  for  more  than  thirty 
years,  under  the  government  of  a  queen  who  is  beloved 
not  only  in  her  own  realm,  but  throughout  all  civilized 
countries,  and  who  has  bestowed  upon  me  very  high 
honor,  yet  my  appreciation  (warm  though  it  is)  of  kind- 
ness and  honor  bestowed  upon  me  in  England  has  never 
effaced  the  grateful  remembrance  and  warm  interest  which 
I  must  ever  connect  with  the  home  of  my  early  business 
and  the  scene  of  my  youthful  exertions. 

"  I  am,  therefore,  glad  to  meet  you  here ;  to  stand 
again  where  I  can  look  upon  the  scenes  which  recall  so 
many  memories  of  my  younger  days ;  and  still  more  glad 
to  receive  from  you  this  warm  greeting,  the  token  that  my 
course  of  life  has  met  with  your  approbation. 

"  But  yet  I  come  to  you  now,  in  some  degree,  with  a 
saddened  heart,  at  finding  that  nearly  all  my  early  ac- 
quaintances in  Baltimore  have  left  the  stage  of  life,  and  I 


PATEIOTISM.  63 

am  left  so  nearly  alone  among  them  all ;  and,  in  lately 
looking  over  a  list  of  the  principal  importing  merchants  of 
Baltimore  (headed  by  Alexander  Brown  &  Son,  and 
George  &  John  Hoffman),  attached  to  a  circular  ad- 
dressed to  our  shipping-merchants  in  Europe,  dated  fifty- 
one  years  ago,  and  containing  ninety-three  firms,  composed 
of  one  hundred  and  forty-five  names,  I  can  now  trace  out, 
as  living,  but  seven  persons,  of  whom  I  am  one.  And, 
having  but  once  before  visited  my  native  land  in  thirty 
years,  I  feel  now  as  if  addressing  a  community  to  whom  I 
am  personally  almost  wholly  unknown ;  and  as  if  I  were 
standing  here  a  relic  of  past  years,  and  addressing  a  gen- 
eration to  which  I  do  not  myself  belong. 

"But  my  interest  both  in  the  present  and  in  future 
generations  is,  I  trust,  not  less  than  in  that  which  has 
passed  or  is  passing  away.  The  fathers  of  many  of  you 
who  hear  my  voice  were  among  my  intimate  friends ;  and, 
thus  situated,  I  hope  I  may  not  be  presuming  in  what  I 
shall  have  to  say. 

"  Since  my  last  visit,  nearly  ten  years  ago,  many  and 
great  changes  have  taken  place.  I  then  had  the  pleasure 
of  expressing  my  regard  for  this  city,  and  my  desire  for 
the  good  of  its  future  citizens,  by  the  establishment  of  the 
institution  in  which  I  am  now  addressing  you.  I  could 
then  hardly  expect  to  address  you  here  at  this  time  ;  but 
God  has  been  pleased  to  prolong  my  years  beyond  the 
threescore  years  and  ten  allotted  to  man,  and  to  enable 
me  to  carry  out  at  this  time  the  views  I  then  entertained 


64         THE  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  PEABODY. 

with  regard  to  the  operations  and  benefits  of  this  institu- 
tion. 

"  With  the  details  of  the  scheme  and  organization  of 
the  Institute  I  do  not  propose  to  interfere.  I  am  fully 
confident  that  I  leave  them  in  the  hands  of  those  who  are 
devoted  earnestly,  and  even  enthusiastically,  to  devising 
and  carrying  out  such  plans  as  will,  for  all  coming  time, 
work  for  the  highest  good  and  culture  of  those  for  whom 
its  benefits  were  intended.  But  I  am  sure  you  will  par- 
don me,  my  fellow-citizens,  if,  on  one  point  to  which  Gov. 
Swann  has  eloquently  alluded,  —  the  spirit  of  harmony  in 
which  all  should  be  carried  out,  —  I  speak  a  few  words, 
coming  as  they  do  from  the  very  depths  of  my  heart,  and  ap- 
pealing to  you, — you,  the  people  of  Baltimore,  with  whom 
rests  the  success  or  failure  of  this  Institute.  For  as  years 
advance,  and  what  were  forebodings  for  the  future  have 
become  merged  in  the  past,  the  earnest  desire  for  unity 
and  brotherly  feelings  which  I  cherished  and  expressed 
ten  years  ago,  in  the  terms  referred  to  by  the  Governor 
of  Maryland,  has  become  deeper  and  more  intense.  It  is 
my  hope  and  prayer  that  this  Institute  may  not  only  have 
and  fulfil  a  mission  in  the  fields  of  science,  of  art,  and  of 
knowledge,  but  also  one  to  the  hearts  of  men,  teaching 
always  lessons  of  peace  and  good-will ;  and,  especially, 
that  nowT  it  may,  in  some  humble  degree,  be  instrumental 
in  healing  the  wounds  of  our  beloved  and  common  country, 
and  establishing  again  a  happy  and  harmonious  Union,  — 
the  only  Union  that  can  be  preserved  for  coming  ages,  and 


PATRIOTISM.  65 

the  only  one  that  is  worth  preserving.  And  here  I  may 
well  refer  to  a  subject,  which,  though  of  a  personal  nature, 
has  its  bearings  on  what  I  have  said.  I  have  been  told 
several  times  that  I  have  been  accused  of  want  of  devo- 
tion to  the  Union :  and  I  take  this  occasion  to  place  my- 
self right ;  for  I  have  not  a  word  of  apology,  not  a  word 
of  retraction,  to  utter. 

"  Fellow-citizens,  the  Union  of  the  States  of  America 
wras  one  of  the  earliest  objects  of  my  childhood's  rever- 
ence. For  the  independence  of  our  country,  my  father 
bore  arms  in  some  of  the  darkest  days  of  the  Revolution  ; 
and  from  him,  and  from  his  example,  I  learned  to  love 
and  honor  that  Union.  Later  in  life,  I  learned  more  fully 
its  inestimable  worth  ;  perhaps  more  fully  than  most  have 
done  :  for,  born  and  educated  at  the  North,  then  living 
nearly  twenty  years  at  the  South,  and  thus  learning,  in 
the  best  school,  the  character  and  life  of  her  people  ; 
finally,  in  the  course  of  a  long  residence  abroad,  being 
thrown  in  intimate  contact  with  individuals  of  every  sec- 
tion of  our  glorious  land,  —  I  came,  as  do  most  Americans 
who  live  long  in  foreign  lands,  to  love  our  country  as  a 
whole  ;  to  know  and  take  pride  in  all  her  sons,  as  equally 
countrymen ;  to  know  no  North,  no  South,  no  East,  no 
"West!  And  so  I  wish  publicly  to  avow,  that,  during  the 
terrible  contest  through  which  the  nation  has  passed,  my 
sympathies  were  still  and  always  will  be  with  the  Union  ; 
that  my  uniform  course  tended  to  assist,  but  never  to  in- 
jure, the  credit  of  the  government  of  the  Union  ;  and,  at 


66  THE  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  PEABODY. 

the  close  of  the  war,  three-fourths  of  all  the  property  I 
possessed  had  been  invested  in  United-States  Government 
and  State  securities,  and  remain  so  at  this  time. 

"  But  none  the  less  could  I  fail  to  feel  charity  for  the 
South  ;  to  remember  that  political  opinion  is  far  more  a 
matter  of  birth  and  education  than  of  calm  and  unbiassed 
reason  and  sober  thought.  Even  you  and  I,  my  friends, 
had  we  been  born  in  the  South,  —  born  to  the  feelings, 
beliefs,  and  perhaps  prejudices  of  Southern  men,  —  might 
have  taken  the  same  course  which  was  adopted  by  the 
South,  and  have  cast  in  our  lot  with  those  who  fought,  as 
all  must  admit,  so  bravely  for  what  they  believed  to  be 
their  rights.  Never,  therefore,  during  the  war  or  since, 
have  I  permitted  the  contest,  or  any  passions  engendered 
by  it,  to  interfere  with  the  social  relations  and  warm 
friendships  which  I  had  formed  for  a  very  large  number 
of  the  people  of  the  South.  I  blamed,  and  shall  always 
blame,  the  instigators  of  the  strife,  and  sowers  of  dissen- 
sion, both  at  the  North  and  at  the  South.  I  believed,  and 
do  still  believe,  that  bloodshed  might  have  been  avoided 
by  mutual  conciliation.  But,  after  the  great  struggle  had 
actually  commenced,  I  could  see  no  hope  for  the  glorious 
future  of  America,  save  in  the  success  of  the  armies  of 
the  Union ;  and,  in  reviewing  my  whole  course,  there  is 
nothing  which  I  could  change  if  I  would,  nor  which  I 
would  change  if  I  could.  And  now,  after  the  lapse  of 
these  eventful  years,  I  am  more  deq^ly,  more  earnestly, 
more  painfully  convinced  than  ever  of  our  need  of  mutual 


PATRIOTISM.  67 

forbearance  and  conciliation,  of  Christian  charity  and  for- 
giveness, of  united  effort  to  bind  np  the  fresh  and  broken 
wounds  of  the  nation. 

"  To  you,  therefore,  citizens  of  Baltimore  and  of  Mary- 
land, I  make  my  appeal ;  probably  the  last  I  shall  ever 
make  to  you.  May  not  this  Institute  be  a  common 
ground  where  all  may  meet,  burying  former  differences 
and  animosities,  forgetting  past  separations  and  estrange- 
ments, weaving  the  bands  of  new  attachments  to  the 
city,  to  the  state,  and  to  the  nation  ?  May  not  Baltimore, 
her  name  already  honored  in  history  as  the  birthplace  of 
religious  toleration  in  America,  now  crown  her  past  fame 
by  becoming  the  daystar  of  political  tolerance  and  charity  ? 
And  will  not  Maryland,  in  place  of  a  battle-ground  for 
opposing  parties,  become  the  field  where  milder  counsels 
and  calm  deliberations  may  prevail  ;  where  good  men  of 
all  sections  may  meet  to  devise  and  execute  the  wisest 
plans  for  repairing  the  ravages  of  war,  and  for  making  the 
future  of  our  country  alike  common,  prosperous,  and  glo- 
rious, from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific,  and  from  our  north- 
ern to  our  southern  boundary  ?  " 


CHAPTER    IV. 

LONDON    LIFE. 

Removal    to  London.  —  Disinterestedness.  —  Kindness  to  Americans.  — 
Saving  the  Credit  of  his  Country  at  the  Crystal  Palace. 

"  A  smile  for  one  of  mean  degree, 
A  courteous  bow  for  one  of  high ; 
So  modulated  both,  that  each 
Saw  friendship  in  his  eye."  — Hirst. 

"  Be  ye  kind  one  to  another."  —  Rom.  xii.  10. 

[ITH  characteristic  manner,  "  The  London 
News  "  adds  to  the  statement  before  given, 
"  But  the  time  arrived,  happily  for  this  coun- 
try, and  well,  perhaps,  for  the  English  race 
on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic,  when  Mr.  Peabody  came  to 
London.  His  first  visit  to  us  was  in  1827,  while  he  was 
still  chief  partner  of  the  Baltimore  firm.  From  this  he  at 
length  withdrew,  and  fixed  himself  here  as  merchant  and 
money-broker,  with  others,  by  the  style  of  '  George 
Peabody  &  Co.  of  Warnford  Court,  City.'  He  held  depos- 
its for  customers,  discounted  bills,  negotiated  loans,  and 
bouo-ht  or  sold  stocks.     As  one   of  three  commissioners 

68  # 


LONDON  LIFE.  69 

appointed  by  the  State  of  Maryland  to  obtain  means  for 
restoring  its  credit,  he  refused  to  be  paid  for  his  services. 
He  received  a  special  vote  of  thanks  from  the  Legislature 
of  that  State.  Americans  in  Europe  were  always  glad  to 
know  Mr.  Peabody,  from  whom  they  gained,  if  they 
deserved  it,  the  most  useful  assistance,  as  well  as  the 
kindest  welcome.  His  private  hospitality  —  not  less  deli- 
cately than  freely  offered,  though  he  was  a  bachelor,  simply 
and  cheaply  living  in  chambers — was  exerted  without  stint 
of  cost  for  the  pleasure  of  those  who  called  on  him  with  a 
letter  of  personal  introduction.  He  used  to  give  them 
pleasant  little  dinners  at  his  club,  or  at  Richmond,  or 
Hampton  Court,  —  places  dear  to  the  American  visitor. 
The  anniversary  of  American  Independence  —  the  4th 
of  July  —  he  used  to  celebrate  with  a  semi-public  dinner 
at  the  Crystal  Palace.  Mr.  Peabody,  indeed,  was,  of  all 
men,  least  like  a  hermit  or  ascetic  ;  but  his  taste  was,  to 
be  social  in  the  enjoyment  of  all  good  things.  He  would 
spend  little  for  himself:  his  only  solitary  gratification,  we 
believe,  was  the  peaceful  sport  of  the  angler,  in  which, 
like  Mr.  Bright,  he  was  quite  an  adept.  These  little  per- 
sonal habits  of  a  man  so  much  beloved  are  not  unworthy 
of  recollection." 

A  writer  on  this  side   the  water  says  of  Mr.  Peabody, 
that,  "  without  being  in  the  slightest  degree  a  gourmand, 
he   prided   himself  very   highly  upon   his   table,   and  took 
especial  pleasure    in    the    selection   of   the    viands.       Mr.. 
Peabody  generally  possessed  a  hearty  appetite.     His  taste, 


70         THE  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  PEABODY. 

however,  was  more  for  wholesome,  well-cooked  food  than 
for  luxuries.  He  seldom  indulged  in  pastry  or  cake,  but 
was  passionately  fond  of  fruit,  which  he  kept  upon  his 
table  at  all  seasons  of  the  year."  And  yet  it  is  declared 
that  "  Mr.  Peabody's  personal  expenses  never  exceeded 
three  thousand  dollars  during  the  last  ten  years  of  his 
life."  Evidently  Mr.  Peabody  thought  of  the  tastes, 
comfort,  and  needs  of  others,  more  than  of  himself ;  and 
in  this  disinterestedness  lies  one  of  the  chief  glories  of 
his  character.  He  was  just  as  well  as  generous.  "  The 
Boston  Transcript  "  says,  "  Mr.  Peabody  was  strongly 
opposed  to  fraud  in  little  matters.  The  conductor  on  an 
English  railway  once  overcharged  him  a  shilling  for  fare. 
He  made  complaint  to  the  directors,  and  had  the  man 
discharged.  '  Not,'  said  he,  '  that  I  could  not  afford  to 
pay  the  shilling  ;  but  the  man  was  cheating  many  travellers 
to  whom  the  swindle  would  be  oppressive.'  ' 

It  is  said  to  have  been  "  one  of  the  peculiarities  of  Mr. 
Peabody,  that  he  never  would  have  a  house  of  his  own. 
He  cared  little  for  himself  in  all  things.  It  was  his  habit, 
for  instance,  to  dine  off  a  mutton-chop  at  the  grand  din- 
ners he  used  to  give,  where  every  luxury  was  spread 
upon  the  table.  He  used  to  live  in  London  in  the  most 
retired  manner ;  and  his  name  did  not  appear  in  any 
directory  or  i  Court  Guide.'  " 

He  was  a  banker  only  in  the  American  sense  of  the 
term  ;  for  while,  like  the  Rothschilds  and  the  Barings,  he 
loaned  money,   changed  drafts,   bought  stocks,   and  held 


LONDON  LIFE.  71 

deposits  for  customers,  yet  he  did  not  pay  out  money,  as 
English  bankers  do,  and  therefore  was  not  deemed  a 
banker  in  England.  "  The  magnitude  of  his  transactions 
in  that  capacity,  perhaps,  fell  short  of  one  or  two  great" 
houses  of  the  same  class ;  but  in  honor,  faith,  punctuality, 
and  public  confidence,  the  firm  of  George  Peabody  & 
Co.  of  Warnford  Court  stood  second  to  none."  As 
already  shown,  Mr.  Peabody  had  not  been  long  across  the 
waters,  when  those  unfortunate  failures  occurred  which 
shook  American  credit  abroad,  and  brought  so  much 
reproach  in  certain  business-circles  upon  the  American 
name.  "  The  default  of  some  of  the  States,  and  the 
temporary  inability  of  others  to  meet  their  obligations, 
and  the  failure  of  several  of  our  moneyed  institutions, 
threw  doubt  and  distrust  on  all  American  securities. 
That  great  sympathetic  nerve  of  the  commercial  world, 
—  credit,  —  as  far  as  the  United  States  was  concerned, 
was  for  the  time  paralyzed.  At  that  moment,  —  and  it  was 
a  trying  one,  —  Mr.  Peabody  not  only  stood  firm  himself, 
but  he  was  the  cause  of  firmness  in  others.  His  iudg- 
ment  commanded  respect ;  his  integrity  won  back  the 
reliance  which  men  had  been  accustomed  to  place  upon 
American  securities."  And  a  late  writer  has  truly  said, 
that  "  it  is  because  Mr.  Peabody  at  that  trying  time  rose 
far  above  the  mere  financier,  —  coming  to  the  rescue  with 
his  true  American  heart,  as  well  as  with  his  English  purse 
and  English  credit,  —  that  he  rose  at  once  into  the  rank 
of  public  benefactors." 


72  THE  LIFE   OF  GEORGE  PEABODY. 

"  The  Boston  Advertiser  "  is  responsible  for  the  follow- 
ing anecdote,  which  illustrates  the  quick  wit  of  the  London 
banker,  and,  to  the  candid  mind,  does  not  compromise  his 
loyalty  :  — 

"  The  fame  of  Mr.  George  Peabody  rests  so  exclusively 
upon  the  immense  gifts  of  the  last  years  of  his  life,  that 
some  peculiar  incidents  of  his  earlier  career  as  an  Ameri- 
can merchant  in  London,  illustrating  other  traits  of  char- 
acter than  splendid  liberality,  are  apt  to  be  overlooked. 
Mr.  Peabody  was  never  a  commonplace  man ;  and,  in 
many  situations  of  life,  he  did  things  which  brought  him 
strong  friends  and  made  him  bitter  enemies,  and  caused 
controversies  which  would  be  now  remembered,  but  for 
the  n;reat  torrent  of  giving;  which  has  swept  them  out  of  the 
memories  of  most  people.  At  the  time  of  the  Great  Exhi- 
bition of  1851,  Mr.  Peabody  earned  the  gratitude  of  Amer- 
icans in  London  and  at  home,  and  became  more  widely 
known  than  his  wealth,  already  great,  had  made  him,  by 
advancing  a  large  sum,  for  which  no  provision  had  been 
made,  to  enable  the  products  of  American  industry  to  be 
displayed  in  the  Crystal  Palace.  In  the  same  year,  he  gave 
his  first  great  Fourth- of- July  feast,  at  Willis's  Rooms,  to 
American  citizens  and  the  best  society  of  London,  headed 
by  the  Duke  of  Wellington.  It  was  4  the  affair  of  the  sea- 
son.' Mr.  Peabody,  after  this,  extended  his  hospitality  to 
a  larger  extent  than  ever  before  ;  established  the  unprece- 
dented practice  of  inviting  to  dinner  every  person  who 
brought  a  letter  of  credit  on   his  house  ;   and  celebrated 


LONDON  LIFE.  73 

every  Independence  Day  by  a  special  dinner  to  the  Amer- 
icans in  London,  inviting  some  distinguished  English 
friends  to  meet  them. 

"  At  these  banquets,  it  was  the  invariable  custom  of  the 
host  to  have  the  first  toast  in  honor  of  the  Queen.  After 
her,  the  President's  health  might  be  drunk.  It  was  Mr. 
Peabody's  own  preference,  and  nobody  had  a  right  to 
object.  But,  in  1854,  a  number  of  Americans,  led  by 
Mr.  Daniel  E.  Sickles,  who  was  then  secretary  of  legation 
at  London,  proposed  a  special  subscription-dinner  on  the 
4th  of  July,  as  a  more  purely  national  affair.  During  the 
preparations,  Mr.  Peabody  expressed  an  acquiescence  in 
the  project,  but  asked  to  be  allowed  to  provide  the  dinner, 
which  mjght  be  managed,  as  to  the  matter  of  invitations 
and  toasts,  by  a  committee  of  arrangements.  His  proposal 
was  gladly  accepted  ;  and,  as  it  was  supposed  that  the 
great  merchant  had  desired  to  imply  a  willingness  to  con- 
form to  the  general  preference  in  the  matter  of  the  senti- 
ments, all  was  left  in  his  hands,  and  no  committee  of 
arrangements  was  appointed.  After  the  material  portion 
of  a  luxurious  repast  was  over,  Mr.  Peabody  arose,  and 
said,  in  deference  to  her  sex,  if  not  to  her  position,  he 
would  propose  as  the  leading  toast,  '  The  health  of  her 
Majesty,  Queen  Victoria.'  The  astonishment  and  wrath 
of  some  of  the  guests  were  XTery  great.  Not  a  few,  headed 
by  Mr.  Sickles,  left  the  room  in  ostentatious  anger. 
Others,  among  whom  was  Mr.  Buchanan,  the  American 
minister,  refused  to  rise.     There  was  an  uproarious  min- 


THE  LIFE   OF   GEORGE  PEABODY. 

gling  of  hisses  with  the  cheers  which  followed  the  toast. 
The  affair  seems  at  this  distance  of  time  a  small  one,  and 
undoubtedly  the  result  of  a  misunderstanding ;  but  it 
caused  great  bitterness  of  feeling  in  1854,  and  gave  rise 
to  enmities  which  only ,  the  death  of  Mr.  Peabody  has 
terminated." 

The  testimony  of  the  late  President  Felton  of  Harvard 
College,  given  at  the  Dan  vers  reception,  is  so  much  in 
point,  that  it  is  here  inserted  :  — 

"lam  one  of  that  famous  tribe  of  '  wandering  Arabs ' 
who  have  crossed  the  ocean,  and  have  shared  in  the  hospi- 
talities of  your  distinguished  guest ;  and  I  am  indebted  to 
him,  —  it  is  not  egotism  that  prompts  me  to  say  it,  but  a 
desire  to  add  my  tribute  to  the  chaplet  of  honor  with 
which  you  have  crowned  him  to-day,  —  I  am  indebted  to 
him,  I  say,  for  much  of  my  enjoyment  in  the  Old  World. 
I  reached  London  a  stranger  to  him,  having  no  letter  of  in- 
troduction to  him,  not  even  a  letter  of  credit.  [Laughter.] 
He  sought  ine  out,  and  invited  me  to  one  of  those  almost 
regal  entertainments  ;  and  the  hours  that  I  spent  in  the 
society  gathered  by  him  on  that  delightful  occasion  are 
among  the  most  pleasant  reminiscences  of  my  foreign  tour. 
I  well  remember  the  society  brought  together  on  that 
occasion.  The  noble  sons  and  lovely  daughters  of  Eng- 
land came,  honoring  by  their  presence  your  fellow-citizen, 
who  had  honored  them  by  his  invitation  ;  and  they  felt  it 
so  :  and  there  I  listened  to  words  of  friendship  towards 
the  American  nation  which  would  make   every  heart  in 


LONDON  LIFE.  75 

this  assembly  throb  with  delight  if  they  could  hear  them, 
as  I  heard  them,  spoken  by  the  most  eloquent  lips  of 
England. 

"  I  think,  Mr.  President,  if  there  is  any  Englishman 
here  present,  he  must  have  felt  that  the  sentiment  of 
friendship  for  that  great  and  illustrious  nation  —  the 
foremost  nation  in  modern  civilization,  the  great  bulwark 
of  liberty,  whose  language,  as  has  been  well  and  truly 
said  by  one  of  their  great  writers,  is  the  only  language 
upon  the  face  of  the  earth  in  which  the  accents  of  freedom 
can  be  uttered  —  is  congenial  to  the  American  heart ;  he 
must  have  felt  that  the  words  of  good  will  so  often  uttered 
on  those  festive  occasions  of  which  Mr.  Peabody  was  the 
originator  have  found  a  ready  response  from  the  people 
of  this  country,  as  proved  by  this  multitudinous  assembly. 
And  I  must  confess,  republican  as  I  am,  ultra  republican 
as  I  am  [cheers],  that  my  heart  beat  quicker  when  the 
mention  of  the  royal  lady  of  England  was  received  with 
three  hearty  cheers  from  this  republican  assembly ;  for 
that  sovereign  lady  illustrates,  in  her  high  position,  all 
those  domestic  and  household  virtues,  which,  while  they 
give  dignity  to  the  lowliest  position,  are  the  ornament  and 
the  pride  of  the  most  exalted.  It  is  true,  we  owe  her  no 
political  allegiance ;  but  the  virtues  of  the  Queen  of 
England,  while  they  secure  to  her  the  love  and  loyalty  of 
her  subjects,  entitle  her  to  the  willing  fealty  of  every  hon- 
orable man  in  republican  America."  [Loud  cheers.] 
.  "  The  Advertiser  "  also  remarks   that  "  it  was  in  the 


76         THE  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  PEABODY. 

banking-business  that  the  bulk  of  the  huge  fortune  was 
made.  Mr.  Peabody  had  a  strong  faith  in  American 
securities.  He  dealt  in  them  largely  and  confidently. 
That  keen  business-instinct,  indescribable,  unacquirable, 
inborn  as  much  as  the  power  of  poetry  or  of  art,  secured 
for  him  the  happy  result  of  a  wise  selection  among  invest- 
ments which  certainly  were  not  universally  perfect.  The 
result  was,  that  his  wealth,  not  previously  remarkable, 
began  to  roll  up  rapidly  and  enormously.  He  remained  a 
shrewd  business-man  to  the  end  of  his  long  life.  Munifi- 
cently as  he  gave  away,  he  never,  in  the  strict  matter  of 
making  money,  grew  lax  or  unbusiness-like.  Very  prop- 
erly, he  kept  the  two  functions  entirely  distinct,  and  did 
not  confound  liberal  generosity  with  merchant-like  deal- 
ing. In  private  life,  his  habits  were  little  changed  by  the 
acquisition  of  riches.  Frugal  from  necessity  in  early  life, 
frugal  he  remained,  so  far  as  the  gratification  of  his  own 
tastes  was  concerned,  to  the  end.  But  his.  hospitality  was 
exceptionally  wide-spread  and  sumptuous,  and  such  as  is 
always  considered  to  be  needful  and  becoming  in  the 
complete  picture  of  the  ideal  '  merchant-prince.'  Men 
who  spent  lavishly  for  luxuries  and  show  often  pointed 
with  something  like  a  sneer  at  his  modest  bachelor  quar- 
ters. But  while  he  was  sheltering  the  poor  of  a  great 
kingdom,  and  educating  the  ignorant  in  a  mighty  republic, 
he  could  afford  to  let  the  cavillers  have  their  say.  He 
was  content  to  find  his  chief  and  quiet  pleasure  at  his 
favorite  game  of  whist,  in  congenial  company.  .  .  . 


LONDON  LIFE.  77 

"  Though  the  temptations  of  business,  and  perhaps  of 
taste,  induced  Mr.  Peabody  to  expatriate  himself  for  so 
many  years,  it  is  needless  to  say  that  he  never  ceased  to 
be  at  heart  an  American  citizen.  Unlike  most  men  who 
belong  to  two  countries,  he  slighted  neither  for  the  other, 
but  distributed  his  affections  and  his  money  between  them 
in  a  manner  which  left  room  for  nothing  but  gratitude  on 
the  part  of  each.  Americans  will  long  remember  and 
long  miss  his  hearty  friendship  in  a  foreign  land." 

According  to  "  The  Boston  Transcript,"  "  When  Mr. 
Peabody  first  resided  in  London,  he  lived  very  frugally ; 
taking  breakfast  at  his  lodgings,  and  dining  at  a  club-house. 
His  personal  expenses  for  ten  years  did  not  average  six 
hundred  pounds  per  annum. 

44  He  had  a  very  retentive  memory,  particularly  in 
regard  to  names  and  places.  He  would  give  the  most 
minute  particulars  of  events  that  occurred  between  fifty 
and  sixty  years  ago. 

"  He  first  appeared  in  print  as  the  champion  of  Ameri- 
can credit  in  England  at  the  time  our  State  securities 
were  depressed  on  account  of  the  non-payment  of  interest 
by  Pennsylvania. 

44  He  was  very  fond  of  singing  ;  Scottish  songs  being  his 
favorites. 

44  He  was  a  good  talker :  at  the  table,  few  men  were  his 
equals.  His  idea  of  a  pleasant  dinner-party  was  where 
there  was  a  great  deal  of  talk,  and  he  could  take  the  lead 
in  conversation. 


78         THE  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  PEABODY. 

"  The  favorite  games  of  Mr.  Peabody  were  backgam- 
mon after  dinner,  and  whist  in  the  evening.  He  was  as 
fond  of  the  latter,  and  as  rigorous  a  player,  as  Charles 
Lamb's  friend,  Sarah  Battle,  who  neither  gave  nor  took 
quarter." 

At  the  time  of  the  Great  Exhibition  of  1851,  in  Eng- 
land, Mr.  Peabody  redeemed  the  good  name  of  his  coun- 
trymen by  promptly  supplying  a  sum  of  fifteen  thousand 
dollars,  which  was  greatly  needed,  in  order  to    place  in 
suitable  array  the  contributions  to  the  World's  Fair  from 
America,  and  to  save  his  native  country  from  appearing 
unworthy  of  its  public   and  private   enterprise.      On   the 
occasion  of  Mr.  Peabody's  public  reception   by  his  native 
town,  in   1856,  Hon.  Edward  Everett  thus  eloquently  al- 
luded to  this  generous  deed  of  the  London  banker  ;  saying, 
"  We  are  bound  as  Americans,  on  this  occasion  particularly, 
to  remember  the  very  important  services  rendered  by  your 
guest  to  his   countrymen  who  went  to   England  in   1851 
with  specimens  of  the  products   and  arts   of  this  country 
to  be  exhibited  at  the  Crystal  Palace.     In  most,  perhaps  in 
all  other  countries,  this  exhibition  had  been  a  government 
affair.      Commissioners    were    appointed    by   authority   to 
protect  the  interests  of  the  exhibiters  ;  and,  what  was  more 
important,  appropriations  of  money  were  made   to  defray 
their  expenses.     No  appropriations   were   made   by  Con- 
cress.     Our   exhibiters  arrived  friendless,   some  of   them 
penniless,   in  the  great  commercial  Babel  of  the   world. 
They  found  the  portion  of  the  Crystal  Palace   assigned  to 


LONDON  LIFE.  79 

our  country  unprepared  for  the  specimens  of  art  and 
industry  which  they  had  brought  with  them;  naked 
and  unadorned  by  the  side  of  the  neighboring  arcades  and 
galleries  fitted  up  with  elegance  and  splendor  by  the  rich- 
est governments  in  Europe.  The  English  press  began  to 
launch  its  too  ready  sarcasms  at  the  sorry  appearance 
which  Brother  Jonathan  seemed  likely  to  make;  and 
all  the  exhibiters  from  this  country,  and  all  who  felt  an 
interest  in  their  success,  were  disheartened.  At  this 
critical  moment,  our  friend  stepped  forward.  He  did 
what  Congress  should  have  done.  By  liberal  advances  on 
his  part,  the  American  department  was  fitted  up  ;  and 
day  after  day,  as  some  new  product  of  American  ingenuitv 
and  taste  was  added  to  the  list,  —  McCormick's  reaper, 
Colt's  revolver,  Powers's  Greek  slave,  Hobbs's  unpickable 
lock,  Hoe's  wonderful  printing-presses,  and  Bond's  more 
wonderful  spring  governor, —it  began  to  be  suspected 
that  Brother  Jonathan  was  not  quite  so  much  of  a  sim- 
pleton as  had  been  thought.  He  had  contributed  his  full 
share,  if  not  to  the  splendor,  at  least  to  the  utilities,  of 
the  exhibition.  In  fact,  the  leading  journal  at  London, 
with  a  magnanimity  which  did  it  honor,  admitted  that 
England  had  derived  more  real  benefit  from  the  con- 
tributions of  the  United  States  than  from  those  of  any 
other  country. " 


CHAPTER    V. 


GREAT    AND    GOOD    GIFTS. 


Help  to  find  Sir  John  Franklin.  —  Donation  to  Danvers. —  The  Peabody 
Institute  in  Peabody.  —  The  Public  Reception  of  the  Benefactor. 

"  For  his  bounty, 
There  was  no  winter  in't :  an  autumn  'twas, 
That  grew  the  more  by  reaping." 

Shakspeare  :  Antony  and  Cleopatra, 

"  He  that  giveth,  let  him  do  it  with  simplicity."  —  Rom.  xii.  8. 

|N  1852,  Mr.  Peabody  again  showed  himself  a 
generous  giver  to  good  and  noble  objects. 
That  friend  of  humanity  in  America,  Henry 
Grinnell,  bad  generously  offered  a  vessel  owned 
by  himself,  —  "  The  Advance,"  —  for  a  second  expedition, 
under  the  brave  and  dauntless  Dr.  Kane,  to  the  Arctic 
seas,  in  search  of  poor  lost  Sir  John  Franklin.  Sympa- 
thizing with  the  pluck  and  energy  and  perseverance  of  the 
American  explorer,  and  also  witli  the  deep  sorrow  of  the 
devoted  Lady  Franklin  and  other  English  friends,  who 
mourned  the  unexplained  delay  of  the  intrepid  adventurer, 
Mr.  Peabody  felt  it  to  be  his  privilege  to  aid  in  the  matter. 

80 


GREAT  AND   GOOD   GIFTS.  81 

According  to  "  The  Boston  Transcript,"  "  a  private  indi- 
vidual offered  a  vessel  for  the  purpose,  on  condition  that 
Congress  should  make  a  grant  of  money  in  aid  of  the  ex- 
pedition ;  and  when  time  ran  on,  and  Congress  seemed 
inclined  to  do  nothing  in  the  matter,  Mr.  Peabody  pro- 
vided the  means  of  equipping  '  The  Advance.'  By  this 
timely  aid,  Dr.  Kane  was  enabled  to  carry  out  his  enter- 
prise ;  and  the  name  of  '  Peabody  Land  '  will  be  found 
marked  upon  part  of  the  northern  shores  which  that  gal- 
lant discoverer  then  visited." 

In  the  month  of  June,  1852,  the  town  of  Danvers  held 
its  centennial  celebration,  and  Mr.  Peabody  was  invited  to 
be  present. 

"  Although  Mr.  Peabody  had  long  been  absent,  yet  the 
many  proofs  by  which  he  had,  in  previous  instances, 
evinced  his  regard  for  the  place  of  his  birth,  gave  him 
peculiar  claims  to  be  included  among  the  invited  guests. 
Accordingly,  an  invitation  was  early  forwarded  to  him,  by 
the  committee  of  the  town,  to  be  present  at  that  festival, 
with  a  request,  that,  if  unable  to  attend,  he  would  signify 
by  letter  his  interest  in  the  occasion.  In  his  reply,  after 
stating  that  his  engagements  would  allow  him  to  comply 
only  with  the  latter  part  of  the  request,  he  said,  1 1  enclose 
a  sentiment,  which  I  ask  may  remain  sealed  till  this  letter 
is  read  on  the  day  of  celebration,  according  to  the  direc- 
tion on  the  envelope.' 


82         THE  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  PEABODY. 

"  The  indorsement  on  the  envelope  of  the  sealed  packet 
was  as  follows  :  — 

"  '  The  seal  of  this  is  not  to  be  broken  till  the  toasts  are 
being  proposed  by  the  chairman,  at  the  dinner,  16th  June, 
at  Danvers,  in  commemoration  of  the  one  hundredth  year 
since  its  severance  from  Salem.  It  contains  a  sentiment 
for  the  occasion  from  George  Peabody  of  London.' 

"  In  obedience  to  the  above  direction,  at  the  proper  mo- 
ment the  reading  of  the  communication  was  called  for  ; 
and  the  following  was  received  by  the  delighted  audience 
with  loud  acclamations  :  — 

"  '  By  George  Peabody  of  London :  — 

"  '  Education,  —  A  debt  due  from  present  to  future  gen- 
erations.1 

"  '  In  acknowledgment  of  the  payment  of  that  debt  by 
the  generation  which  preceded  me  in  my  native  town  of 
Danvers,  and  to  aid  in  its  prompt  future  discharge,  I  give 
to  the  inhabitants  of  that  town  the  sum  of  twenty  thou- 
sand dollars  for  the  promotion  of  knowledge  and  moral- 
ity among  them. 

" '  I  beg  to  remark,  that  the  subject  of  making  a  gift  to 
my  native  town  has  for  some  years  occupied  my  mind  ; 
and  I  avail  myself  of  your  present  interesting  festival  to 
make  the  communication,  in  the  hope  that  it  will  add  to 
the  pleasures  of  the  day. 

"  4 1  annex  to  the  gift  such  conditions  only  as  I  deem 
necessary  for  its  preservation,  and  the  accomplishment  of 


GREAT  AND   GOOD  GIFTS.  83 

the  purposes  before  named.  The  conditions  are,  that  the 
legal  voters  of  the  town,  at  a  meeting  to  be  held  at  a  con- 
venient time  after  the  16th  June,  shall  accept  the  gift,  and 
shall  elect  a  committee  of  not  less  than  twelve  persons,  to 
receive  and  have  charge  of  the  same,  for  the  purpose  of 
establishing  a  lyceum  for  the  delivery  of  lectures  upon 
such  subjects  as  may  be  designated  by  a  committee  of  the 
town,  free  to  all  the  inhabitants,  under  such  rules  as  said 
committee  may  from  time  to  time  enact ;  and  that  a 
library  shall  be  obtained,  which  shall  also  be  free  to  the 
inhabitants,  under  the  direction  of  the  committee. 

"  '  That  a  suitable  building  for  the  use  of  the  lyceum 
shall  be  erected,  at  a  cost,  including  the  land,  fixtures,  fur- 
niture, &c,  not  exceeding  seven  thousand  dollars ;  and 
shall  be  located  within  one-third  of  a  mile  of  the  Presby- 
terian Meeting-House,  occupying  the  spot  of  that  formerly 
under  the  pastoral  care  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Walker,  in  the 
south  parish  of  Danvers. 

"  4  That  ten  thousand  dollars  of  this  gift  shall  be  in- 
vested by  the  town's  committee  in  undoubted  securities, 
as  a  permanent  fund  ;  the  interest  arising  therefrom  to  be 
expended  in  support  of  the  lyceum. 

" '  In  all  other  respects,  I  leave  the  disposition  of  the 
affairs  of  the  lyceum  to  the  inhabitants  of  Danvers,  — 
merely  suggesting  that  it  might  be  advisable  for  them,  by 
their  own  act,  to  exclude  sectarian  theology  and  political 
discussions  forever  from  the  walls  of  the  institution. 

"  i  I  will  make  one  request  of  the  committee ;  which  is, 


84        THE  LIFE  OF  GEOKGE  PEABODY. 

if  they  see  no  objection,  and  my  venerable  friend,  Capt. 
Sylvester  Proctor,  should  be  living,  that  he  be  selected  to 
lay  the  corner-stone  of  the  lyceum  building. 
"  l  Respectfully  yours, 

"  '  George  Peabody.'  " 

The  citizens  of  Danvers  accepted  the  trust,  in  a  proper 
manner  expressing  their  gratitude  for  the  gift. 

"  Mr.  Peabody  afterwards  added  ten  thousand  dol- 
lars to  his  first  donation ;  the  whole  to  be  so  expended, 
that  seventeen  thousand  dollars  should  be  appropriated  for 
the  land  and  building,  three  thousand  to  the  purchase  of 
books  as  the  foundation  of  a  library,  and  ten  thousand  to 
remain  ■  as  a  permanent  fund.  Further  donations  have 
since  been  received,  swelling  the  aggregate  of  Mr.  Pea- 
body's  gifts  to  the  Institute  to  an  amount  exceeding  fifty 

THOUSAND    DOLLARS." 

This  was  the  amount  in  1856,  when  the  memorial  vol- 
ume was  written.  Since  then,  the  gifts  to  Danvers  have 
increased,  till  now,  it  is  said,  the  Peabody  Institute  has 
received  nearly  two  hundred  thousand  dollars  from  its 
generous  founder. 

The  memorial  volume,  printed  to  commemorate  Mr. 
Peabody's  reception  in  his  native  place,  thus  speaks  of  the 
edifice  which  bears  the  honored  name  of  "  Peabody  Insti- 
tute :  "  — 

"  The  difficulty  of  procuring  a  suitable  lot  of  land 
within   the  prescribed   distance  from   the   meeting-house 


m  m 


GREAT  AND  GOOD   GIFTS.  80 

caused  some  delay  in  the  erection  of  the  building.  But 
at  length  a  site  was  selected  on  Main  Street ;  and  the  cor- 
ner-stone of  the  new  structure  was  laid,  with  appropriate 
ceremonies,  on  the  20th  of  August,  1853 ;  Hon.  Abbott 
Lawrence,  an  intimate  friend  of  Mr.  Peabody,  performing 
the  part  assigned  to  Capt.  Sylvester  Proctor,  who  had 
deceased.  The  building  was  finished  in  the  course  of  the 
following  year,  and  dedicated  to  its  future  uses  on  the  29th 
of  September,  1854.  Hon.  Rufus  Choate  delivered  an 
eloquent  address  on  that  occasion. 

"  It  is  a  stately  edifice,  eighty-two  feet  in  length  by 
fifty  in  breadth,  built  of  brick,  and  ornamented  with  brown 
Connecticut  freestone.  On  its  front,  a  slab  of  freestone 
bears  the  words,  Peabody  Institute,  in  relief.  The 
lecture -hall,  occupying  the  whole  of  the  upper  story, 
is  finished  with  neatness  and  simplicity,  and  is  furnished 
with  seats  for  about  seven  hundred  and  fifty  persons. 
Over  the  rostrum  hangs  a  full-length  portrait  of  Mr.  Pea- 
body by  Healy,  which  has  been  pronounced  by  connois- 
seurs to  be  a  chef  d'oeuvre  of  that  artist.  It  was  sat  for 
by  him  at  the  request  of  the  citizens  of  the  town  ;  but,  at 
its  completion,  was  presented  to  them.  The  library- 
room,  in  the  lower  story,  is  commodiously  arranged  for 
the  delivery  of  books.  The  shelves  for  books  are  placed 
around  the  walls  of  the  room ;  but,  by  the  addition  of  al- 
coves, its  capacity  can  be  greatly  increased. 

"  Courses  of  lectures  have  been  delivered  in  the  lyceum- 
hall  to  large  and  attentive  audiences.     The  situation  of 


86         THE  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  PEABODY. 

Danvers  —  within  an  hour's  ride,  by  railroad,  of  the  me- 
tropolis—  is  highly  favorable  for  availing  herself  of  the 
best  talent  in  this  field  of  literary  labor." 

"  In  December,  1854,  a  donation  of  books  was  unex- 
pectedly received  from  Mr.  Peabody ;  affording  a  new 
proof  of  his  generosity  and  his  continuing  interest  in  the 
institution  that  bears  his  name.  These  books,  in  all  about 
two  thousand  five  hundred  volumes,  were  selected  by  his 
order,  in  London,  by  Mr.  Henry  Stevens,  agent  of  the 
Smithsonian  Institute.  They  comprise  many  valuable  and 
even  rare  works ;  among  which  may  be  mentioned  '  The 
Philosophical  Transactions  of  the  Royal  Society,'  and  a 
complete  set  of  4  The  Gentleman's  Magazine.'  ' 

At  the  laying  of  the  corner-stone  of  this  noble  edifice, 
which  has  since  been  enlarged  and  made  more  elegant  in 
appearance,  Hon.  Alfred  A.  Abbott  reminded  the  hearers, 
"  how,  at  the  early  age  of  eleven  years,  in  the  humble 
capacity  of  a  grocer's  boy,  in  a  shop  hard  by  where  we 
now  stand,  he  commenced  his  life  of  earnest  but  successful 
toil;  how,  four  years  after,  having  sought  promotion  in 
another  sphere,  he  found  himself,  by  his  father's  death  and 
his  brother's  misfortunes,  an  orphan,  without  means,  with- 
out employment,  without  friends,  and  all  in  the  most 
gloomy  times ;  but  how,  buoyed  up  by  firm  resolve  and 
a  high  endeavor,  he  turned  his  back  upon  the  endeared 
but  nowr  desolate  scenes  of  his  boyhood,  and  sought  under 
a  southern  sun  those  smiles  of  fortune  denied  him  by  the 
frowning  skies  of  his  northern  home ;  how,  there  in  George- 


GREAT  AND   GOOD   GIFTS.  87 

town,  in  the  District  of  Columbia,  he  became,  while  not  yet 
nineteen  years  old,  —  such  was  his  capacity  and  fidelity, — 
partner  in  a  respectable  firm,  which  afterwards  removed  to 
Baltimore,  and  had  branches  established  in  two  or  three  of 
our  principal  cities ;  and  how,  at  length  become  the  head 
of  his  house,  and  having  crossed  and  recrossed  the  ocean 
many  times  in  the  transaction  of  his  foreign  business,  he 
at  last,  in  1847,  established  himself  permanently  in  Lon- 
don, having  now  created  an  immense  business,  and  amassed 
a  princely  fortune  ;  how,  through  all  this  career  from  pov- 
erty to  opulence,  that  simple  heart  and  kindly  nature, 
which  in  youth  divided  with  his  orphan  brothers  and  sis- 
ters the  scanty  earnings  of  his  toil,  and  in  later  and  more 
prosperous  days  expanded  in  social  amenities  and  timely 
charities  to  his  countrymen  in  a  strange  land,  — :  how  this 
true  nature  remained  ever  the  same,  untainted  by  that 
proud  success  which  too  often  corrupts,  mellowed  only  by 
those  growing  years  which  seldom  fail  to  blunt  our  finer 
sensibilities ;  and,  lastly,  how,  while  with  a  private  life 
above  reproach,  and  a  professional  character  distinguished 
even  among  the  merchant-princes  of  England,  he  had 
come  to  be  pointed  out,  both  at  home  and  abroad,  as  the 
model  of  a  man  and  a  merchant  ;  how,  all  this  time,  his 
heart  fondly  turned  to  his  native  country ;  and  how,  true 
to  her  interests  and  her  honor,  in  the  darkest  hour  of  her 
adversity,  he  stood  up  manfully  in  her  defence^  and, 
throwing  patriotism,  energy,  and  capital  into  the  breach, 
sustained  her  credit,  vindicated  her  good  name,  and  won 


88         THE  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  PEABODY. 

the  gratitude  and  received  the  thanks  of  sovereign 
States." 

The  Hon.  Abbott  Lawrence  laid  the  corner-stone,  pre- 
viously saying,  "  I  came  here  as  the  representative  of  Mr. 
George  Peabody  ;  and  upon  that  it  may  generally  be  asked 
how  Mr.  Peabody  achieved  so  much  good  for  his  country. 
I  know  him  well.  I  have  known  him  for  many  years.  I 
have  seen  him  day  by  day,  month  after  month,  and  year 
after  year ;  and,  for  the  benefit  of  the  younger  portions  of 
this  audience,  I  will  tell  you  how  he  has  achieved  all  that 
has  been  so  eloquently  portrayed  by  the  honorable  gentle- 
man who  preceded  me.  In  the  first  place,  Nature  gave 
him  a  good  constitution  and  a  sound  mind  ;  secondly,  he 
is  a  man  of  indomitable  moral  courage ;  thirdly,  he  has 
patience,  perseverance,  industry,  and,  above  all,  the  strict- 
est integrity. 

"  Ladies  and  gentlemen,  I  know  him  well :  and  I  can 
say  here,  in  the  face  of  this  summer's  sun  and  this  audi- 
ence, that  I  deem  Mr.  George  Peabody  the  very  soul  of 
honor ;  and  that  is  the  foundation  of  his  success.  Those 
traits  of  character  I  have  mentioned  —  this  integrity  of 
purpose  and  determination  —  have  given  him  all  the  suc- 
cess he  has  achieved." 

When  the  beautiful  edifice  was  dedicated,  the  eloquent 
Rufus  Choate,  himself  an  Essex-County  boy,  delivered  the 
address.  After  saying  that  the  community  was  happy  in 
such  educational  provisions,  he  went  on  to  say,  — 

"  Happy,  almost  above  all,  the  noble  giver  whose  heart 


GREAT  AND  GOOD  GIFTS.  89 

is  large  enough  to  pay  of  the  abundance  which  crowns  his 
life  —  to  pay  out  of  his  single  means  —  the  whole  debt  this 
generation  owes  the  future.  I  honor  and  love  him :  not 
merely  that  his  energy,  sense,  and  integrity  have  raised 
him  from  a  poor  boy,  waiting  in  that  shop  yonder,  to 
be  a  guest,  as  Curran  gracefully  expressed  it,  at  the  table 
of  princes,  to  spread  a  table  for  the  entertainment  of 
princes ;  not  merely  because  the  brilliant  professional  career 
which  has  given  him  a  position  so  commanding  in  the  mer- 
cantile and  social  circles  of  the  commercial  capital  of  the 
world  has  left  him  as  completely  American,  the  heart  as 
wholly  untravelled,  as  when  he  first  stepped  on  the  shore 
of  England  to  seek  his  fortune,  sighing  to  think  that  the 
ocean  rolled  between  him  and  home ;  jealous  of  our 
honor ;  wakeful  to  our  interests ;  helping  his  country,  not 
by  swagger  and  vulgarity,  but  by  recommending  her 
credit :  vindicating  her  title  to  be  trusted  on  the  exchange 
of  nations  ;  squandering  himself  in  hospitalities  to  her  citi- 
zens ;  a  man  of  deeds,  not  of  words,  —  not  for  these  merely 
I  love  and  honor  him ;  but  because  his  nature  is  affection- 
ate and  unsophisticated  still ;  because  his  memory  comes 
over  so  lovingly  to  this  sweet  Argos  ;  to  the  schoolroom 
of  his  childhood  ;  to  the  old  shop  and  kind  master,  and  the 
graves  of  his  father  and  mother ;  and  because  he  has  had 
the  sagacity  and  the  character  to  indulge  these  unextin- 
guished affections  in  a  gift,  not  of  vanity  and  ostentation", 
but  of  supreme  and  durable  utility.  With  how  true  and 
rational  a  satisfaction  might  he  permit  one  part  of  the 


90  THE  LIFE   OF  GEORGE   PEABODY. 

charitable  rich  man's  epitaph  to  be  written  on  his  grave- 
stone :  i  What  I  spent,  I  had ;  what  I  kept,  I  lost ; 
what  I  gave  away  remains  with  me ' !  " 

On  the  ninth  day  of  October,  1856,  Mr.  Peabody  was 
publicly  received  in  Jiis  native  town.  It  was  a  grand  ova- 
tion. Willing  hearts,  heads,  and  hands  planned  and  exe- 
cuted the  various  details.  It  was  no  forced  greeting  in 
solemn  mockery  of  the  real  public  sentiment,  but  a  genu- 
ine expression  of  gratitude  and  respect.  There  was  a 
grand  procession,  in  which  the  schools  formed  a  prominent 
part ;  an  address  of  welcome  in  behalf  of  the  citizens,  by 
Hon.  Alfred  A.  Abbott;  a  public  dinner  and  an  evening 
levee,  for  the  purpose  of  affording  opportunity  to  many  of 
a  personal  introduction  to  the  man  whom  Danvers  de- 
lighted to  honor.  The  day  was  lovely,  the  route  filled 
with  interested  spectators,  the  houses  and  streets  finely 
decorated,  and  the  welcome  entire. 

Mr.  Peabody  had  been  offered  public  honors  by  the  citi- 
zens of  other  places,  but  would  accept  none  save  that  invi- 
tation which  came  from  his  native  town.  His  admirable 
reply  to  the  New- York  deputation  is  here  inserted,  that 
his  own  pen  may  tell  with  what  spirit  he  came  back  to  the 
land  of  his  birth  :  — 

"Newport,  Monday,  Sept.  22,  18.3G. 

"Gentlemen,  —  Your  letter  of  the  16th  inst.  is  before 
me.  Allow  me  to  say,  without  affectation,  that  no  one 
can  be  more  surprised  than  myself  at  the  cordial  welcome 
which  you  extend  to  me.     Had  my  commercial  and  social 


GREAT  AND   GOOD   GIFTS.  91 

life  in  London  produced  even  half  the  results  with  which 
your  kindness  endows  it,  I  should  esteem  myself  more  than 
repaid  for  all  labors  there  by  such  a  letter,  subscribed  as  it 
is  by  many  old  and  dear  friends,  by  gentlemen  whose  names 
in  letters  are  co-extensive  with  the  knowledge  of  our  own 
language,  and  by  merchants  whose  enterprise  has  carried 
the  flag  of  our  country  into  every  sea  that  commerce 
penetrates. 

"  If,  during  my  long  residence  in  London,  the  commer- 
cial character  and  honor  of  our  countrymen  have  stood 
upon  an  elevated  position,  it  has  not  been  the  result  of  my 
humble  efforts.  In  common  with  many  of  you,  I  have 
tried  to  do  my  part  in  accomplishing  these  ends.  That 
the  American  name  now  stands  where  it  does  in  the  com- 
mercial world,  is  mainly  owing  to  her  merchants  at  home, 
who  have  extended  her  commerce  till  its  tonnage  equals 
that  of  any  other  nation  ;  who  have  drawn  to  her  shores 
the  wealth  of  other  lands ;  under  whose  directions  the  fer- 
tile fields  of  the  interior  have  been  made  accessible  and 
peopled ;  and  whose  fidelity  to  their  engagements  has  be- 
come proverbial  throughout  the  world. 

"It  has  been  my' pleasure,  during  a  long  residence  in 
London,  to  renew  many  old  friendships,  and  to  form  many 
new  acquaintances,  among  my  countrymen  and  country- 
women ;  and  it  has  been  my  good  fortune  to  be  permitted 
to  cultivate  these  in  social  life,  where  I  have  endeavored 
as  much  as  possible  to  bring  my  British  and  American 
friends  together.     I  believed,  that,  by  so  doing,  I  should,  in 


92         THE  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  PEABODY. 

my  humble  way,  assist  to  remove  any  prejudices,  to  soften 
political  asperities,  and  to  promote  feelings  of  good  will  and 
fraternity  between  the  two  countries.  It  gives  me  great 
pleasure  to  be  assured  that  my  countrymen  at  home  have 
sympathized  in  these  objects,  and  have  believed  that  they  are 
partially  accomplished.  The  recent  temporary  estrange- 
ment between  the  two  governments  served  to  demonstrate 
how  deep  and  cordial  is  the  alliance  between  the  interests 
and  the  sympathies  of  the  two  peoples.  By  aiding  to 
make  individuals  of  the  two  nations  known  to  each  other, 
I  supposed  that  I  was  contributing  my  mite  towards  the 
most  solid  and  sure  foundation  of  peace  and  good  will 
between  them  ;  and,  while  the  power  remains  to  me,  I  shall 
continue  in  a  course  which  you  approve. 

"  In  returning  to  my  native  land,  after  an  absence  of 
twenty  years,  I  had  several  objects  in  view.  I  wished 
once  more  to  see  the  land  of  my  birth  and  early  youth, 
and  the  surviving  members  of  my  family  ;  once  more  to 
greet  my  friends  in  every  part  of  the  country  ;  and  to  see 
and  know  the  new  generations  that  have  come  up  since  I 
left,  and  who  are  to  be  their  successors.  I  also  desired  to 
visit  every  section  of  the  Union,  and  to  witness  with  my 
own  eyes  the  evidences  at  home  of  the  prosperity  of  which 
I  have  seen  abundant  proofs  abroad.  The  twenty  years 
that  have  elapsed  since  my  last  visit  are  the  most  impor- 
tant twenty  years  in  the  commercial  history  of  America. 
Like  Rip  Van  Winkle,  I  am  almost  appalled  at  the  won- 
derful changes  that  already  meet  my  eyes.     Although,  as 


GREAT  AND  GOOD  GIFTS.  93 

you  well  know,  I  have  not  slumbered  meanwhile  in  a  Sleepy 
Hollow,  I  stand  amazed  at  the  energy  and  activity  which 
characterize  your  city.  It  is  my  wish  and  purpose  to  re- 
main in  the  country  long  enough  to  understand  these 
changes  and  their  causes. 

"  On  mature  reflection,  gentlemen,  I  think,  that,  if  I 
accept  the  hospitalities  which  have  been  tendered  to  me 
by  yourselves  and  by  friends  in  Baltimore,  Philadelphia, 
Boston,  and  other  cities,  I  shall  very  seriously  interfere 
with  the  objects  of  my  visit.  I  have,  therefore,  been 
obliged  to  come  to  the  conclusion  to  refuse  all  invitations 
to  dinner,  with  the  single  exception  of  my  native  town  of 
Danvers  in  Massachusetts.  I  assure  you  most  sincerely 
that  I  regret  very  much  that  my  plans  thus  compel  me  to 
decline  the  high  honor  which  you  propose  to  confer  upon 
me,  and  to  deny  myself  the  pleasure  of  meeting  so  many 
personal  friends. 

"  With  great  esteem  and  respect, 

"  I  am,  gentlemen,  your  faithful  servant, 

"  George  Peabody. 

"  Messrs.  Nathaniel  L.  &  George  Griswold ;  Brown  Brothers  &  Co ; 
Duncan,  Sherman,  &  Co. ;  Grinnell,  Minturn,  &  Co. ;  Goodhue 
&  Co. ;  Wetmore,  Cryder,  &  Co. ;  Spofford,  Tileston,  &  Co. ;  A. 
&  A.  Lawrence  &  Co. ;  Washington  Irving ;  William  B.  Astor ; 
Daniel  Lord ;  George  Newbold  ;  John  J.  Palmer ;  William  J. 
Wetmore ;  Charles  Augustus  Davis ;  E.  Cunard ;  and  others. 

To  the  eloquent  address  of  welcome  Mr.  Peabody  made 
the  following  response  :  — 


94  THE  LIFE   OF   GEORGE   PEABODY. 

"  Mr.  Abbott  and  Fellow-Townsmen,  —  I  have  lis- 
tened to  your  eloquent  words  of  welcome  with  the  most 
intense  emotions,  and  return  you  for  them  my  warmest 
acknowledgments.  My  heart  tells  me  that  this  is  no 
common  occasion.  This  vast  gathering,  comprising  many 
old  associates,  their  children  and  their  grandchildren,  to 
welcome  me  to  the  home  of  my  childhood,  almost  unmans 
me.  Though  Providence  has  granted  me  an  unvaried 
and  unusual  success  in  the  pursuit  of  fortune  in  other 
lands,  I  am  still  in  heart  the  humble  boy  who  left  yonder 
unpretending  dwelling  many,  very  many  years  ago. 

UI  have  felt  it  necessary  to  decline  many  proffered  hospi- 
talities :  but  I  could  not  resist  the  impulse  which  prompted 
me  to  accept  yours,  and  to  revisit  the  scenes  once  so  famil- 
iar ;  to  take  you  again  by  the  hand,  and  to  tell  you  how  it 
rejoices  my  heart  to  see  you. 

"  You  can  scarcely  imagine  how  the  changes  to  which 
you  have  referred  impress  me.  You  have  yourselves 
grown  up  with  them,  and  have  gradually  become  familiar- 
ized with  all ;  but  to  me,  who  have  been  so  long  away, 
the  effect  is  almost  astounding.  It  is  gratifying  to  find, 
however,  that  these  transformations  have  gone  hand  in 
hand  with  your  prosperity  and  improvement. 

"  The  solitary  fields  which  were  the  scenes  of  my  boyish 
sports  now  resound  with  the  hum  of  busy  labor ;  and  the 
spirit  of  improvement,  not  content  with  triumph  on  land, 
has  even  converted  Foster's  mill-pond  into  solid  ground, 
and  made  it  the  scene  of  active  enterprise. 


GREAT  AND  GOOD  GIFTS.  95 

"But  time  has  also  wrought  changes  of  a  painful  nature. 
Of  those  I  left,  the  old  are  all  gone.  A  few  of  the 
middle-aged  remain,  but  old  and  infirm ;  while  the  active 
population  consists  almost  entirely  of  a  new  generation. 

"  I  now  revert  to  a  more  pleasing  theme,  and  call  your 
attention  to  the  brightest  portion  of  the  picture  of  the 
day. 

"  One  of  the  most  pleasing  and  touching  incidents  of  tin's 
morning  is  the  large  number  of  scholars  who  have  come 
forth  to  bid  me  welcome,  and  who  now  surround  me.  In 
addressing  a  few  words  to  you,  my  dear  young  friends,  I 
would  bid  you  remember  that  but  a  few  years  will  elapse 
before  you  will  occupy  the  same  position  towards  your 
own  children  which  your  parents  now  hold  towards  your- 
selves. The  training  you  are  now  receiving  is  a  precious 
talent,  for  the  use  or  abuse  of  which  each  will,  on  a  future 
day,  be  called  upon  to  give  a  severe  account.  May  you 
then  be  ready  to  render  up  that  talent  with  '  usury ' ! 
There  is  not  a  youth  within  the  sound  of  my  voice  whose 
early  opportunities  and  advantages  are  not  very  much 
greater  than  were  my  own  ;  and  I  have  since  achieved 
nothing  that  is  impossible  to  the  most  humble  boy  among 
you.  I  hope  many  a  great  and  good  man  may  arise  from 
among  the  ranks  of  Danvers  boys  assembled  here  to-day. 
Bear  in  mind,  however,  that,  to  be  truly  great,  it  is  not 
necessary  that  you  should  gain  wealth  and  importance. 
Every  boy  may  become  a  great  man  in  whatever  sphere 
Providence  may  call  him  to  move. 


96   '     THE  LIFE  OF  GEOKGE  PEABODY. 

"  Steadfast  and  undeviating  truth,  fearless  and  straight- 
forward integrity,  and  an  honor  ever  unsullied  by  an 
unworthy  word  or  action,  make  their  possessor  greater 
than  worldly  success  or  prosperity.  These  qualities  con- 
stitute greatness  :  without  them  you  will  never  enjoy  the 
good  opinion  of  others,  or  the  approbation  of  a  good 
conscience. 

"  To  my  young  female  friends  I  would  say,  Remember 
that  there  have  been  and  are  great  women  as  well  as 
great  men,  —  great  in  their  domestic  graces,  as  daugh- 
ters, as  wives,  and  as  mothers  ;  and  I  trust  that  future 
times  may  record  many  a  name  so  distinguished,  whose 
seeds  of  good  were  sown  within  this  town.  And  al- 
low me  to  hope  that  my  eye  now  rests  upon  some  of 
them. 

"  May  the  advice  I  have  given  you  be  impressed  upon 
your  young  hearts  !  It  is  given  with  great  sincerity  by 
one  who  has  had  much  experience  in  the  world ;  and, 
although  Providence  has  smiled  upon  all  his  labors,  he  has 
never  ceased  to  feel  and  lament  the  want  of  that  early 
education  which  is  now  so  freely  offered  to  each  one  of 
you.  This  is  the  first  time  we  have  met ;  it  may  prove 
the  last :  but,  while  I  live,  I  shall  ever  feel  a  warm  interest 
in  your  welfare.     God  bless  you  all !  " 

At  the  dinner,  there  were  also  addresses  ;  among  them, 
one  by  Henry  J.  Gardner,  then  Governor  of  Massachusetts. 
He  said,  — 


GREAT   AND   GOOD    GIFTS.  97 

"  In  response  to  a  sentiment  complimentary  to  Massa- 
chusetts, I  am  always  proud  to  raise  my  voice ;  and, 
responsive  to  this  allusion  in  honor  of  her  institutions,  I 
think  to-day,  in  this  presence,  an  answer  may  be  pecu- 
liarly fitting.  I  have  never  before  participated  in  an 
occasion  of  this  kind.  Where  was  there  one  ?  A  young 
man,  with  no  other  capital,  as  you  well  said,  but  his  hands 
and  his  integrity,  going  abroad  across  the  waters  unher- 
alded and  unknown  ;  by  his  own  industry  and  integrity 
distinguishing  himself  among  his  fellows,  and,  in  the  good 
gifts  of  Providence  showered  upon  him  every  hour  of 
every  year,  seeking  how  he  might  benefit  his  countrymen 
at  home  [cheers]  ;  rendering  his  name  illustrious,  also,  for 
his  princely  hospitality,  and  his  commercial  house,  to 
which  you  refer,  a  proverb  upon  the  marts  and  commer- 
cial highways  of  nations,  —  to  see  such  a  one  return,  so 
honored  and  so  beloved,  to  the  scene  of  his  birth,  is  indeed 
a  new  and  interesting  event. 

"  But  I  cannot,  I  will  not,  detain  you.  I  cannot,  how- 
ever, but  refer  to  one  circumstance  in  the  career  of  your 
distinguished  guest,  which  makes  me  peculiarly  proud, 
and  feel  deeply  honored  now  to  address  him.  He  is  a 
merchant :  lie  belongs  to  that  fraternity  to  which  my  own 
humble  life  and  services  have  been  devoted.  It  has  not 
the  glittering  attraction  of  the  warrior,  whose  fame  can  be 
carved  out  by  his  sword  upon  the  battle-field  ;  it  has  not, 
ladies  and  gentlemen,  that  attraction  which  he  who 
spreads  abroad  the  glad  tidings  to  all  nations  finds  in  his 
7 


98         THE  LIFE  OP  GEOEGE  PEABODY. 

profession  ;  it  has  not  the  attraction  of  legal  or  of  politi- 
cal excitement ;  it  has  not,  necessarily,  —  though  there 
are  many  exceptions,  —  it  has  not,  I  say,  necessarily,  that 
connection  with  the  cultivation  of  the  intellect,  the 
improvement  of  the  mind,  which  the  learned  professions, 
so  called,  always  require  :  but,  sir,  you  and  I  know  it 
has  its  pride  and  its  value.  There  must  be  patient  atten- 
tion to  petty  details,  to  exacting,  minute  transactions ; 
there  must  be  great  and  careful  and  prudent  attention 
paid  to  them  all,  hour  after  hour,  and  day  after  clay :  but, 
when  the  successful  result  is  reached,  there  is  a  compen- 
sation in  that  very  success  itself,  and  high  honor  in  the 
means  by  which  it  has  been  attained. 

"  And,  sir,  in  your  career  there  is  much  that  the  young 
merchants  of  Massachusetts  can  profit  by.  In  the  first 
place,  they  can  take  a  lesson  from  that  integrity  of  pur- 
pose of  which  we  all  to-day  have  read  upon  banner,  upon 
house,  upon  staff,  and  upon  the  faces  and  in  the  words  of 
our  citizens.  We  can  see,  too,  in  your  career,  —  where 
the  siren  Hope  in  early  days  beckoned  you  where  deeper 
waters  ran,  and  pointed  to  the  furled  sail  at  the  mast- 
head, —  how  you  stood  resolutely  on  in  your  own  path  of 
duty,  and  defied  the  siren-song.  There  is  in  that  a  lesson 
for  the  young  merchants  of  Massachusetts  to  remember. 
[Cheers.] 

"  But  further,  beyond  and  above  all  this,  when  Provi- 
dence in  his  mercy  has  filled  your  treasury  to  overflowing, 
when  you  have  reached  the  goal  of  all  your  anticipations, 


GREAT  AND   GOOD   GIFTS.  99 

.  — all  you  ever  could  have  hoped  or  desired,  —  ay,  there  is 
a  lesson,  my  friends,  for  the  young  and  the  old  merchants 
all  to  bear  in  mind  as  to  the  manner  in  which  those 
rich  rewards  have  been  distributed."      [Loud  cheers.] 

The  Hon.  Edward  Everett  also  spoke  eloquently,  and, 
among  other  true  words,  said,  — 

"Mr.  President,  —  I  suppose  you  have  called  upon 
me  to  respond  to  this  interesting  toast  chiefly  because  I 
filled,  a  few  years  ago,  a  place  abroad  which  made  me  in 
some  degree  the  associate  of  your  distinguished  guest  in 
the  kindly  office  of  promoting  good  will  between  the  two 
great  branches  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  or  Anglo-Norman 
race  (for  I  do  not  think  it  matters  much  by  which  name 
you  call  it)  —  'the  fair  mother  and  the  fairer  daughter  ' 
—  to  which  the  toast  alludes.  At  all  events,  I  had  much 
opportunity,  during  my  residence  in  England,  to  witness 
the  honorable  position  of  Mr.  Peabody  in  the  commercial 
and  social  circles  of  London ;  his  efforts  to  make  the 
citizens  of  the  two  countries  favorably  known  to  each 
other;  and,  generally,  that  course  of  life  and  conduct 
which  has  contributed  to  procure  him  the  well-deserved 
honors  of  this  day,  and  which  shows  that  he  fully  enters 
into  the  spirit  of  the  sentiment  just  propounded  from  the 
chair. 

"  Your  quiet  village,  my  friends,  has  not  gone  forth  in 
eager  throngs  to  meet  the  successful  financier  ;  the  youth- 


100  THE  LIFE   OF  GEORGE   PEABODY. 

ful  voices  to  which  we  listened  with  such  pleasure  in  the 
morning  have  not  been  attuned  to  sing  the  praises  of  the 
prosperous  banker.  No  :  it  is  the  fellow-citizen,  who,  from 
the  arcades  of  the  London  exchange,  laid  up  treasure  in 
the  hearts  of  his  countrymen ;  the  true  patriot,  who, 
amidst  the  splendors  of  the  Old  World's  capital,  said  in  his 
heart,  '  If  I  forget  thee,  O  Jerusalem !  let  my  right  hand 
forget  her  cunning  ;  if  I  do  not  remember  thee,  let  my 
tono-ue  cleave  to  the  roof  of  my  mouth.'  It  is  the  dutiful 
and  grateful  child  and  benefactor  of  old  Dan  vers  whom 
you  welcome  back  to  his  home. 

"  Yes,  sir ;  and  the  property  you  have  invested  in  yon- 
der simple  edifice,  and  in  providing  the  means  of  innocent 
occupation  for  hours  of  leisure,  —  of  instructing  the  minds 
and  forming  the  intellectual  character,  not  merely  of  the 
generation  now  rising,  but  of  that  which  shall  take  their 
places  when  the  heads  of  those  dear  children  who  so 
lately  passed  in  happy  review  before  you  shall  be  as  gray 
as  mine,  and  of  others,  still  more  distant,  who  shall  plant 
kind  flowers  on  our  graves,  —  it  is  the  property  you  have 
laid  up  in  this  investment  which  will  embalm  your  name 
in  the  blessings  of  posterity,  when  granite  and  marble 
shall  crumble  to  dust.  Moth  and  rust  shall  not  corrupt 
it :  they  might  as  easily  corrupt  the  pure  white  portals  of 
the  heavenly  city,  where  « every  several  gate  is  of  one 
pearl.'  Thieves  shall  not  break  through  and  steal  it :  they 
might  as  easily  break  through  the  vaulted  sky,  and  steal 
the  brightest  star  in  the  firmament." 


GREAT  AND   GOOD   GIFTS.  101 

Mr.  Everett  concluded  by  playfully  referring  to  the  sen- 
timent sent  by  Mr.  Peabody  to  the  centennial  assembly,  in 
these  words  :  "  Now,  we  all  know,  that,  on  an  occasion 
of  this  kind,  a  loose  slip  of  paper,  such  as  a  sentiment  is 
apt  to  be  written  on,  is  in  danger  of  being  lost :  a  puff  of 
air  is  enough  to  blow  it  away.  Accordingly,  just  by  way 
of  paper-weight,  — just  to  keep  the  toast  safe  on  the  table, 
and  also  to  illustrate  his  view  of  this  new  wav  of  paying 
old  debts,  —  Mr.  Peabody  laid  down  twenty  thousand  dol- 
lars on  the  top  of  his  sentiment ;  and,  for  the  sake  of  still 
greater  security,  has  since  added  about  as  much  more. 
Hence  it  has  come  to  pass  that  this  excellent  sentiment 
Jias  sunk  deep  into  the  minds  of  our  Danvers  friends,  and 
has,  I  suspect,  mainly' contributed  to  the  honors  and  pleas- 
ures of  this  day. 

"  But  I  have  occupied,  Mr.  President,  much  more  than 
my  share  of  your  time ;  and,  on  taking  my  seat,  I  will 
only  congratulate  you  on  this  joyful  occasion,  as  I  con- 
gratulate our  friend  and  guest  at  having  had  it  in  his 
power  to  surround  himself  with  so  many  smiling  faces  and 
warm  hearts." 

Other  excellent  speeches  and  many  good  letters  also 
marked  this  pleasant  occasion  ;  but  space  forbids  further 
reference  to  them.  Are  they  not  all  chronicled  finely  in 
the  memorial  volume  published  by  order  of  the  committee 
of  arrangements  ? 


CHAPTER   VI. 

GOOD    GIFTS    CONTINUED. 

The  Donation  to  Thetford.  Vt.  —  Grandfather  Dodge.  —  The  Wood- 
Sawing  Story. 

11  What  you  desire  of  him,  he  partly  hegs 
To  he  desired  to  give.    It  much  would  please  him, 
That  of  his  fortunes  you  would  make  a  staff 
To  lean  upon."  —  Shakspeare  :  Antony  and  Cleopatra. 

"  Give,  and  it  shall  he  given."  —  Luke  vi.  38. 

O  a  communication  addressed  to  the  trustees  of 

the    Peabody    Library   at    Thetford,   Vt.,   the 

Rev.  A.  T.  Deming,  Chairman  of  the   Board, 

very  kindly  responded  as  follows  :  — 

"  We  have,  as  yet,  no  printed  account  of  Mr.  Peabody's 

gift ;  though  we  hope  to  have  one  soon  in  connection  with 

the  printed  catalogue. 

"  The   following  embraces,  I  think,  the  material  facts 
which  you  desire. 

"  During  the  fall  of  1866,  Mr.  Peabody,  while  visiting 
friends  here,  expressed  his  desire  to  do  something  in   be- 

102 


GOOD   GIFTS   CONTINUED.  103 

half  of  the  place.  The  citizens  assembled  Aug.  6,  1866, 
and  passed  the  following  resolutions  :  — 

"  ' Resolved,  That  we  most  gratefully  appreciate  the 
benevolence  of  Mr.  George  Peabody,  and  do  extend  to 
him  our  hearty  thanks  for  the  very  generous  and  munifi- 
cent gift  which  he  proposes  to  make  us  for  the  purpose  of 
a  village  library ;  and  will  most  cheerfully  carry  out  the 
plan  he  presents  in  establishing  it ;  and,  in  accordance 
therewith,  have  elected  Dr.  H.  H.  Niles  and  Isaiah  Co- 
burn  as  trustees,  to  act  with  those  already  chosen  by  him. 

" ' Resolved,  That  the  library  shall  take  the  name  of  its 
munificent  founder,  and  be  called  "  The  Peabody  Library.'* 

"  'Resolved,  That  Rev.  Charles  Scott  be  appointed  a 
committee  to  present  the  above  resolutions  to  the  donor, 
and  request  him  to  make  such  conditions  and  regulations 
respecting  said  fund  as  he  may  deem  proper.' 

"  The  resolutions  were  accordingly  forwarded,  and  the 
following  response  from  Mr.  Peabody  received :  — 

"'Georgetown,  September,  1866. 
'"To   Rev.    C.    Scott,  Chairman   of  Peabody-Library  Committee, 
Post  Mills,  Yt. 

"  '•Dear  Sir,  —  I  have  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  from 
you  of  the  resolutions  of  the  citizens  of  Post  Mills  in 
regard  to  my  proposed  gift  of  a  library  to  that  village  ; 
and,  in  accordance  with  the  desire  therein  expressed,  I  beg- 
to  state  my  wishes  in  regard  to  the  management  of  the 
library. 


304  THE   LIFE  OF   GEORGE   PEABODY. 

"  4  Of  the  $5,000  which  I  proposed  giving  for  the  pur- 
pose mentioned,  I  have  placed  $1,500  in  the  hands  of 
Samuel  T.  Dana,  Esq.,  of  the  firm  of  Dana  &  Co.,  South 
Market  Street,  Boston,  subject  to  your  order  when  money 
shall  from  time  to  time  be  required  for  building-purposes 
or  for  the  purchase  of  books ;  he  allowing  you  interest  at 
the  rate  of  five  per  cent  per  annum  in  account. 

"  l  For  $1,500  of  the  remainder,  I  have  employed  Mr. 
H.  G.  Somerby  of  London  (a  friend  who  has  bought 
largely  for  me  for  other  libraries)  to  purchase  standard 
and  useful  books  as  the  foundation  of  your  library  ;  and  I 
am  sure  they  will  prove  cheaper  and  better  than  we  could 
get  them  in  this  country.  I  think  they  will  be  here  by 
the  first  of  January  next.  You  can,  therefore,  go  on  with 
your  building  accordingly. 

"  '  With  the  remaining  $2,000  I  have  purchased  two 
gold-bearing  coupon-bonds  of  the  United  States,  of  the 
denomination  of  $1,000,  numbers  33,194  and  60,182,— 
popularly  called  five-forties.  These  I  bought  for  you  on 
my  return,  and  they  are  now  worth  nearly  seventy  dollars 
over  cost ;  the  two  bonds  being  in  the  hands  of  S.  T. 
Dana,  who  holds  them  for  your  account. 

"  '  It  is  my  wish,  and  a  condition  of  my  gift,  that  this 
sum  of  $2,000  shall  always  remain  and  be  kept  perma- 
nently invested  by  the  trustees  or  library  committee  in 
United-States  bonds  or  other  safe  securities  as  a  library- 
fund*  the  income  of  which  shall  be  applied  to  the  purchase 
of  books  or  other  wants  of  the  library,  as  their  discretion 
mav  determine. 


GOOD   GIFTS   CONTINUED.  1C5 

" '  It  is  my  wish  that  the  privileges  of  the  library  shall 
be  enjoyed  (under  such  restrictions,  as  to  suitable  age  or 
character,  as  may  from  time  to  time  be  made  by  the  trus- 
tees, or  committee  having  it  in  charge)  by  the  inhabitants 
of  the  two  school-districts  in  the  town  of  Thetford,  which 
are  comprised  in  the  village  of  Post  Mills ;  and  I  would 
suggest  that  these  privileges  may  be  extended  in  particular 
cases,  at  the  discretion  of  the  library-officers,  to  others,  who, 
though  not  within  the  above  limits,  may  reside  near  them, 
and  may  be  in  the  habit  of  doing  business  at  the  village 
of  Post  Mills. 

"  '  And  wishing,  as  I  have  ever  done,  to  encourage  and 
cherish  a  spirit  of  harmony  and  good  will  among  all,  it  is 
my  desire  that  at  no  time  shall  any  preference  or  distinc- 
tion be  made  in  the  selection  of  books,  or  in  any  matter 
connected  with  the  library,  on  account  of  any  political 
party  or  religious  sect ;  and  it  is  my  wish,  that,  whenever 
a  minister  or  ministers  of  the  gospel  are  or  may  be  settled 
in  Post  Mills  Village,  he  or  they  may  be  upon  the  library 
committee. 

"  fc  The  motive  which  has  most  strongly  impelled  me  to 
make  this  gift  is  my  sense  of  gratitude  for  kindness  shown 
me  in  my  early  life  by  my  late  revered  uncle,  Eliphalet 
Dodge,  and  his  excellent  wife,  who  still  lives  in  your  vil- 
lage. It  is  therefore  my  desire  that  there  shall  always  be 
three  of  their  descendants,  and  bearing  their  name  (so  long 
as  there  shall  remain  so  many  of  them  inhabitants  of  Post 
Mills  Village),  among  the  trustees  of  the  library,  sanc- 
tioned by  yourself  and  others. 


106  THE   LIFE   OF   GEORGE   PEABODY. 

rt  '  I  have  selected  as  a  site  for  the  library-building  a  lot 
of  land  which  has  been  given  for  the  purpose  by  Harvey 
Dodge,  Esq.,  and  which  appears  to  me  to  be  central,  and 
eminently  suitable  for  the  location. 

"  4 1  will  send  you  Mr.  Dana's  letter  of  acknowledgment 
for  the  two  bonds,  and  the  money,  in  a  few  days. 
44 '  I  am,  with  gieat  respect, 

44  4  Your  obedient  servant, 

44  4  George  Peabody.' 

"  Sept.  15,  a  meeting  of  "he  inhabitants  of  the  village 
was  held,  the  above  letter  of  Mr.  Peabody  read,  and  a 
series  of  resolutions  passed  unanimously. 

44  The  resolutions  provided  for  the  appointment  of  offi- 
cers, and  otherwise  carrying  out  the  wishes  expressed  in 
the  preceding  letter. 

44  March  1, 1867,  Mr.  Peabody  penned  the  following  :  — 

•"'91  Lafayette  Street,  Salem,  Mass.,  March  1,  1867. 

44  4  Dear  Sir,  —  Understanding  from  your  letter  to  me, 

received  to-day,  that  your  library-building  will  require,  to 

complete  it,  8500  in  addition  to  the  sum  allowed  for  that 

purpose  from  the  $ 5,000  already  given,  I  enclose  a  check 

on  New  York  for  the  same,  payable  to  your  order. 

u  t  yerv  respectfully  yours, 

44  4  George  Peabody. 
" '  Mr.  Wm.  Dodge.' 

44  Aug.    17,   1869,   a   full-sized   portrait   of   Mr.    Pea- 


GOOD   GIFTS   CONTINUED.  107 

body  was  received  at  ,the  library.  A  series  of  resolutions 
passed  by  the  trustees  upon  its  reception  was  published  in 
4  The  Vermont  Chronicle.'  Possibly  you  have  seen  them. 
"  On  receiving  intelligence  of  Mr.  Peabody's  death,  the 
trustees  and  friends  of  the  library  passed  the  following  tes- 
timonial of  respect  to  his  memory  :  — 

"  '  God,  in  his  providence,  having  removed  by  death 
Mr.  George  Peabody,  the  founder  of  this  library ;  and  it 
being  eminently  fitting  that  some  record  should  be  made 
of  our  appreciation  of  his  excellences,  and  our  grateful 
sense  of  his  benefactions  :   therefore 

"  'Resolved,  That  we  bow  in  humble  submission  to  the 
all-wise  providence  of  God  in  the  removal  of  this  our 
friend  and  benefactor ;  remembering  that  to  this  same  all- 
wise  and  gracious  providence  Mr.  Peabody  was  accus- 
tomed to  attribute  all  the  honor  of  what  he  was  enabled 
to  become  and  to  accomplish. 

"  'Resolved,  That  we  record,  with  thankfulness  to  the 
Father  of  all  mercies,  our  high  appreciation  of  the  charac- 
ter and  life  of  Mr.  Peabody,  our  high  estimate  of  his  pre- 
eminent financial  abilities,  of  his  sterling  integrity,  and  of 
his  republican  simplicity,  unshaken  by  the  applause  of  the 
multitude  or  the  attentions  of  the  great. 

"  'Resolved,  That,  with  a  still  deeper  gratitude,  we  re- 
cord our  high  sense  of  the  value  of  his  work  as  a  pliilan- 
thropist,  in  ministering  with  princely  munificence  to  the 
education  of  the  ignorant,  and  to  the  comfort  and  eleva- 


108  THE   LIFE   OF   GEORGE   PEABODY. 

tion  of  the  poor ;  and  this  both  in  the  land  of  his  adoption 
and  in  his  native  land,  elsewhere  and  in  this  community. 

"  ' Resolved,  That,  with  equal  gratitude,  we  record  his 
earnest  efforts  to  heal  the  wounds  of  war  and  spread  the 
arts  of  peace  in  the  two  leading  nations  of  the  earth  ;  and 
express  the  hope  that  his  name,  now  received  as  a  heritage 
by  England  and  America,  may  form  another  strand  in  the 
cord  binding  these  great  powers  together  in  amity. 

"  <- Resolved,  That,  as  trustees  and  friends  of  this  library, 
we  pledge  ourselves  anew  to  carry  out  the  wishes  of  the 
benevolent  donor,  and  to  hold  up  for  imitation  before  us, 
and  before  the  minds  of  the  people  of  this  community,  his 
commendable  traits  of  character  and  of  life.'  ' 

A  writer  in  "  The  Boston  Traveller  "  says,  concerning 
the  donation  to  Thetford,  "  All  the  newspaper  biogra- 
phies of  the  great  philanthropist  state,  that,  at  the  age  of 
fifteen,  he  spent  a  year  with  his  grandfather  at  Post  Mills 
Village,  Thetford,  Vt. ;  and  all  lists  of  his  benefactions 
mention  his  gift  of  some  thousands  of  dollars  for  a  library 
in  that  village.  This  gift  was  made  while  on  a  visit  to  his 
relatives  there,  during  his  last  visit  but  one  to  his  native 
country.  Perhaps  some  things  which  I  happen  to  know 
about  the  grandfather  and  family  and  residence  may  in- 
terest some  of  your  readers. 

"  Post  Mills  is  a  little  village  in  the  north-west  corner  of 
Thetford,  containing,  at  the  time  of  George's  visit,  a  grist- 
mill and  saw-mill,  a  schoolhouse,  one  or  two  variety-stores, 


GOOD   GIFTS   CONTINUED.  109 

a  blacksmith's  shop,  a  tavern,  and  probably  a  young  phy- 
sician ;  though  Dr.  Niles  may  have  settled  there  a  year  or 
two  later.  The  rest  of  the  people  were  farmers  of  mod- 
erate means  :  some  of  whom,  however,  occasionally  made 
shoes  or  put  up  barns  for  their  neighbors.  The  nearest 
house  of  worship  was  five  miles  south,  on  Thetford  Hill, 
where  lived  the  Rev.  Asa  Burton,  D.D.,  well  known 
throughout  New  England  as  a  teacher  in  theology,  and  as 
the  great  promulgator  and  defender  of  the  c  Taste  Scheme.' 
Jeremiah  Dodge,  George's  grandfather,  lived  in  a  small, 
neat,  white,  two-story  house,  a  little  out  of  the  village, 
on  the  north  side  of  the  road  leading  east  to  the  Connec- 
ticut River,  and  Oxford,  N.H.  His  son  Eliphalet  lived 
a  few  rods  farther  east,  on  the  south  side  of  the  road,  in  a 
one-story  farmhouse,  un painted,  unless  it  had  once  been 
slightly  tinged  with  Spanish  brown.  Their  farm  was 
almost  wholly  on  the  south  side  of  the  road.  I  do  not 
know  its  exact  size  ;  probably  one  hundred  acres  or  more  : 
much  of  it,  around  the  houses,  beautifully  level,  and  rea- 
sonably fertile.  He  had  a  large  family  of  boys  and  girls, 
by  whose  help  the  labor  of  the  farm  was  done. 

"  Another  son,  Daniel,  was  a  i  master  mariner,'  and 
lived  with  his  father  when  at  home.  He  commanded  a 
ship  which  sailed  from  New  York  for  Canton,  with  orders 
to  trade  between  Canton  and  Acheen  in  Sumatra  three 
years,  and  then  load  at  Canton  and  return.  Before  the 
three  years  had  quite  expired,  he  inferred  from  the  news- 
papers that  war  was  imminent  between  the  United  States 


110  THE  LIFE   OF   GEOEGE  PEABODY. 

and  England,  —  the  war  of  1812.  He  therefore  loaded 
and  returned  to  New  York  as  quickly  as  possible  ;  arriving 
just  in  season  to  escape  capture  by  the  first  British  squad- 
ron sent  to  blockade  the  coast.  As  his  trips  to  Acheen 
had  been  successful,  and  as  the  price  of  China  goods  had 
risen,  and  continued  to  rise,  on  account  of  the  war,  the 
voyage  proved  very  profitable  to  the  owners. 

"  Jeremiah  Dodge,  when  I  first  knew  him,  some    ten 
years  afterwards,  was  a  white-headed  old  man,  too  feeble, 
from  acre,  for  the  severe  labor  of  the  farm,  but  still  erect 
in  his  posture,  and  commonly  busy  about  such  light  work 
as  he  needed  to  keep  him  from  the  tedium  of    idleness. 
He  was  a  very  quiet   man  ;   never  obtrusive,  but  always 
affable  ;  never  excited,  never  talkative  ;  but  shpwing,  when 
occasion  called  for  it, — which  was  not  often,  —  a  keen, 
quiet  wit,  which   raised  a  smile  among  the  hearers,  and 
commonly  closed    an    argument    to    which    he    had    been 
listening.     His  wife  was  several  years  younger,  more  ac- 
tive, and,  though  not  a  talkative  woman,  was  more  ready 
to  engage  in  conversation  than  her  husband.      They  were 
both  members  of  the  church  in  Thetford :  but,  about  the 
time  last   mentioned,  a  house  of  worship  was  erected  at 
Post  Mills;  and  they,  with  the  other  Congregationalists  at 
that  place,  transferred  their  membership  to  the  church  in 
West   Fairlee,  worshipping  there  and  at    Post   Mills   on 
alternate    sabbaths.     As  church-members,  they  were   too 
old  to  be  very  active ;  but  nobody  ever  accused  them  of 
any  thing,  either  in  the  way  of  omission  or  commission, 
inconsistent  with  their  profession. 


GOOD   GIFTS   CONTINUED.  Ill 

"  With  such  grandparents  and  such  surroundings, 
George  Peabody's  year  at  Post  Mills  must  have  been  a 
year  of  intense  quiet,  with  good  examples  always  before 
him,  and  good  advice  whenever  occasion  called  for  it ;  for 
Mr.  Dodge  and  his  wife  were  both  too  shrewd  to  bore  him 
with  it  needlessly.  It  was  on  his  return  from  this  visit 
that  he  spent  a  night  at  a  tavern  in  Concord,  N.H.,  and 
paid  for  his  entertainment  by  sawing  wood  the  next  morn- 
ing. That,  however,  must  have  been  a  piece  of  George's 
own  voluntary  economy:  for  Jeremiah  Dodge  .would  never 
have  sent  his  grandson  home  to  Danvers  without  the 
means  of  procuring  the  necessaries  of  life  on  the  way  ;  and 
still  less,  if  possible,  would  Mrs.  Dodge.  Perhaps  he  told 
them  that  he  did  not  need  any  help,  relying  on  his  own 
ability  to  make  his  way  home,  without  burdening  them 
with  the  expense ;  but,  more  probably,  he  just  saw  a 
chance  for  an  hour  or  two  of  profitable  labor,  and  took 
advantage  of  it  to  save  money  for  other  uses. 

"  The  interest  with  which  Mr.  Peabody  remembered 
this  visit  to  Post  Mills  is  shown  by  his  second  visit  so  late 
in  life,  and  his  gift  of  a  library,  —  as  large  a  library  as 
that  place  needs.  Of  its  influence  on  his  character  and 
subsequent  career,  of  course,  there  is  no  record.  Perhaps 
it  was  not  much.  But,  at  least,  it  gave  him  a  good  chance 
for  quiet  thinking,  at  an  age  when  he  needed  it  ;  and  the 
labors  of  the  farm  may  have  been  useful  both  to  mind  and 
body. 

"  It  has  been  repotted  that  he  wished  his  relatives  at 


112  .        THE  LIFE   OF  GEORGE  PEABODY. 

Post  Mills  to  give  a  lot  for  the  library-building ;  but  they 
declined.  It  may  be  that  he  mentioned  such  a  thing ;  but 
I  cannot  believe  that  he  urged  it.  The  people  of  that  vil- 
lage are  better  able  to  buy  a  suitable  building-lot  than  they 
are  to  give  it ;  and  the  building  is  placed  in  a  better  loca- 
tion than  could  be  found  for  it  anywhere  on  their  farm. 
From  the  well-known  character  of  the  family,  it  may  be 
fairly  presumed  that  they  contributed  their  just  proportion 
for  the  purchase  of  the  lot." 

Dr.  Hanaford  furnishes  the  following  explanation  for 
this  chapter :  — 

"  In  this  connection,"  he  says,  "it  is  proper  to  refer  to 
at  least  one  of  the  many  erroneous  statements  that  have 
appeared  in  the  public  prints,  and,  of  course,  gained  some 
credence,  in  reference  to  the  early  history  of  Mr.  Peabody. 
I  refer  to  the  statement,  that,  in  his  poverty,  he  was  obliged 
to  walk  from  Georgetown  to  Thetford,  and  that  he  sawed 
wood  for  his  lodging  while  spending  the  night  at  Concord, 
N.H.  Perhaps  there  was  more  foundation  for  this  report 
than  for  some  others ;  though  his  father  was  in  humble  cir- 
cumstances, yet  not  so  much  so  as  to  demand  such  fatigues 
and  privations  of  the  lad.  The  foundation  for  some  of  the 
items  of  the  report  were  the  following :  While  Mr.  Pea- 
body,  in  the  latter  part  of  his  life,  was  spending  a  short 
time  in  that  place,  on  one  occasion,  while  in  the  company 
of  Judge  Upham  and  others,  one  of  the  company  asked 
him  if  he  had  ever  visited  Concord  before.  He  replied 
that  he  had  in  his  early  life,  and  that  he  sawed  wood  for 


GOOD   GIFTS   CONTINUED.  113 

his  lodo-incr  at  the  hotel.  At  that  moment  something 
occurred  to  divert  his  attention,  and  he  failed  to  explain 
the  circumstances.  In  his  boyhood,  when  about  to  visit 
Mends  at  Thetford,  a  marketman  who  had  been  to  the 
city,  and  was  on  his  return,  stopped  at  his  father's  house, 
and  a  passage  for  the  lad  was  engaged.  In  accordance 
with  the  custom  of  the  times,  the  food  was  probably  taken 
(sometimes,  in  winter,  'bean-porridge,'  frozen,  with  a 
cord  in  it,  and  hung  upon  the  load),  demanding  only  lodg- 
ing for  the  driver,  &c.  The  night  was  spent  at  Concord. 
The  marketman  arrived  before  night :  but,  as  there  was 
no  convenient  place  to  stop  north  of  Concord,  where  the 
night  would  overtake  him  if  he  drove  on,  he  decided  to 
spend  the  night  there  ;  which  gave  the  young  Peabody 
some  little  time  to  look  about.  He  soon  made  the  ac- 
quaintance of  a  boy  of  about  his  own  age  ;  and,  being  pas- 
sionately fond  of  fishing,  he  asked  his  new  friend  to  go 
with  him.  But  the  boy,  who  was  connected  with  the 
hotel,  informed  him  that  he  had  a  stint,  or  4  stent '  as  it 
was  generally  pronounced,  and  that  he  could  not  go  until 
his  task  was  performed..  Accordingly,  the  two  finished 
the  labor,  and  then  enjoyed  their  recreation. 

"  When  the  man  called  for  his  bill  the  next  morning, 
he  declined  to  '  take  any  thing  for  that  boy,  as  he  helped 
my  boy  saw  wood.'  These  circumstances,  probably,  gave 
rise  to  the  whole  statement ;  the  principal  foundation  being 
that  he  did  pay  for  his  lodging  in  that  manner,  though  the 
sawing  of  the  wood  was  not  intended  for  that  purpose. 

8 


114  THE  LIFE   OF  GEORGE  PEABODY. 

It  is  highly  probable,  however,  that  he  would  not  have 
declined  any  honest  employment  if  necessary,  even  in 
after-life,  if  the  circumstances  had  demanded  such  service; 
since  he  was  a  man  who  would  prefer  menial  service  to  a 
dishonorable  act,  while  he  was  remarkable  for  his  industry, 
and  strict  and  methodical  attention  to  business." 


CHAPTER    VII. 

STILL    GIVING. 

Peabody  Institute  at  Baltimore. — Letter  of  Mr.  Peabody. —  Proceedings 
in  Regard  to  the  Donation.  —  Mr.  Peabody's  Remarks. 

11  The  classic  days,  those  mothers  of  romance, 
That  roused  a  nation  for  a  woman's  glance ; 
The  age  of  mystery,  with  its  hoarded  power, 
That  girt  the"tyrant  in  his  storied  tower, — 
Have  passed  and  faded  like  a  dream  of  youth ; 
And  riper  eras  ask  for  history's  truth."  —  Bryant  :  The  Ages. 

"  Every  man  also  to  whom  God  hath  given  riches  and  wealth,  and  hath  given  him 
power  to  eat  thereof,  and  to  take  his  portion,  and  to  rejoice  in  his  labor,  —  this  is  the 
gift  of  God."  — ECCLE3.  v.  19. 

SpHMONG  the  gifts  of  the  man  whom  God  greatly 
prospered  after  he  removed  to  England  was 
one  of  great  value  to  the  city  of  his  early  busi- 
ness success.  After  an  absence  of  twenty 
years  from  his  native  land,  Mr.  Peabody  fulfilled  his  inten- 
tion, long  before  formed,  of  founding  in  the  city  of  Balti- 
more an  Institute  comprising  a  large  free  library,  the 
periodical  delivery  of  lectures  by  eminent  literary  and  sci- 
entific men,  an  academy  of  music,  a  gallery  of  art,  and 
kindred  purposes. 

115 


116  THE   LIFE   OF   GEOIiGE  PEABODY. 

A  trustee  of  that  Institute  says,  "  The  annals  of  Bal- 
timore, ever  since  Baltimore  could  boast  the  honors  of 
a  city,  exhibit  no  act  of  private  munificence,  no  act  of  asso- 
ciated philanthropy,  nor,  perhaps,  even  of  public  official 
benefaction,  which,  in  the  scope  of  its  design  of  usefulness 
to  the  community,  or  in  the  prodigal  generosity  of  the 
means  contributed  to  its  accomplishment,  may  claim  the 
admiration  and  gratitude  of  our  citizens  by  a  merit  so  clear 
and  unquestionable  as  the  Institute  which  George  Peabody 
this  day  offers  to  the  city.  An  endowment  amounting  to 
a  million  of  dollars  has  been  appropriated  to  the  establish- 
ment and  completion  of  a  broad  and  permanent  structure 
of  public  education,  which,  when  brought  to  its  full  devel- 
opment, is  destined  to  become  the  well-spring  of  perennial 
and  profuse  bounty  to  many  generations  of  the  people  of 
Baltimore  and  Maryland." 

These  words  of  the  trustee  were  spoken  on  the  day 
when  the  Institute  was  inaugurated  in  18G6 ;  and  he  fur- 
ther said,  — 

"  The  stately  edifice  in  which  we  are  now  assembled  is 
but  the  first  flower  of  this  noble  design.  A  great  part  of 
the  work  is  not  yet  even  begun.  When  the  whole  is  fin- 
ished, the  Institute  will  stand  in  this  apex  of  the  city,  the 
fairest  of  the  buildings  that  adorn  its  triple  hills.  Here, 
in  the  centre  of  the  most  beautiful  city-landscapes,  its  ma- 
jestic figure  reposing  at  the  foot  of  the  matchless  column 
which  symbolizes  the  immortality  of  the  Father  of  our 
Union,  it  will  be  the  second  object  to  challenge  the  admi- 


STILL  GIVING.  117 

ration  of  the  passing  stranger  ;  whilst  it  will  ever  attract 

the  veneration  and  gratitude  of  our  own  people,  and  the 

thousands  of  their  descendants,  who,  through  the  lapse  of 

years,  shall  be  privileged  to  frequent  its  halls,  and  draw 

from  its  wells  of  living  water  exhaustless  draughts  of  Wis- 
es © 

dom  and  virtue.  Still  more  distinctly  will  it  stand  a  cher- 
ished monument  to  perpetuate  in  the  affection  of  our 
posterity  the  enviable  memory  of  a  patriot  who  served  his 
country  with  imperial  munificence.  Let  us  add,  it  will 
stand  for  ages  as  the  memorial  of  a  good  man  whom  Prov- 
idence had  blessed  with  a  prosperity  almost  as  lavish  as 
his  virtue,  with  a  renown  almost  as  rare  as  his  wise  appre- 
ciation of  the  true  use  of  riches." 

In  his  first  letter,  referring  to  his  benefaction,  dated 
Feb.  12,  1857,  Mr.  Peabody,  after  expressing  his  wishes 
in  reference  to  the  scope  and  character  of  the  Institute, 
closed  witli  the  following  excellent  suggestions  :  — 

"  I  must  not  omit  to  impress  upon  you  a  suggestion  for 
the  government  of  the  Institute,  which  I  deem  to  be  of  the 
highest  moment,  and  which  I  desire  shall  be  ever  present 
to  the  view  of  the  board  of  trustees.  My  earnest  wish  to 
promote  at  all  times  a  spirit  of  harmony  and  good  will  in 
society,  my  aversion  to  intolerance,  bigotry,  and  party 
rancor,  and  my  enduring  respect  and  love  for  the  happy 
institutions  of  our  prosperous  republic,  impel  me  to  express 
the  wish  that  the  Institute  I  have  proposed  to  you  shall 
always  be  strictly  guarded  against  the  possibility  of  being 
made  a  theatre  for  the  dissemination  or  discussion  of  secta- 


118  THE   LIFE   OF  GEORGE   PEABODY. 

rian  theology  or  party  politics ;  that  it  shall  never  minister, 
in  any  manner  whatever,  to  political  dissension,  to  infidel- 
ity, to  visionary  theories  of  a  pretended  philosophy,  which 
may  be  aimed  at  the  subversion  of  the  approved  morals  of 
society  ;  that  it  shall  never  lend  its  aid  or  influence  to  the 
propagation  of  opinions  tending  to  create  or  encourage 
sectional  jealousies  in  our  happy  country,  or  which  may 
lead  to  the  alienation  of  the  people  of  one  State  or  section 
of  the  Union  from  those  of  another :  but  that  it  shall  be 
so  conducted,  throughout  its  whole  career,  as  to  teach 
political  and  religious  charity,  toleration,  and  beneficence, 
and  prove  itself  to  be,  in  all  contingencies  and  conditions, 
the  true  friend  of  our  inestimable  Union,  of  the  salutary 
institutions  of  free  government,  and  of  liberty  regulated 
by  law.  I  enjoin  these  precepts  upon  the  board  of  trus- 
tees, and  their  successors  forever,  for  their  invariable 
observance  and  enforcement  in  the  administration  of  the 
duties  I  have  confided  to  them. 

"  And  now,  in  conclusion,  I  have  only  to  express  my 
wish,  that,  in  providing  for  the  building  you  are  to  erect, 
you  will  allow  space  for  future  additions,  in  case  they  may 
be  found  necessary;  and  that,  in  its  plan,  style  of  architec- 
ture, and  adaptation  to  its  various  uses,  it  may  be  worthy 
of  the  purpose  to  which  it  is  dedicated,  and  may  serve  to 
embellish  a  city  whose  prosperity,  I  trust,  will  ever  be  dis- 
tinguished by  an  equal  growth  in  knowledge  and  virtue. 
"  I  am,  with  great  respect, 

"  Your  friend, 

"  George  Peabody." 


STILL  GIVING.  110 

The  munificent  donation  of  Mr.  Peabody  was  partially 
expended  in  the  erection  of  a  white-marble  edifice,  which 
was  completed  in  1861.  The  sad  years  of  civil  war  for- 
bade its  formal  dedication  till  Oct.  25,  1866,  when  Mr. 
Peabody  was  able  to  be  present.  Rev.  Dr.  Backus,  pas- 
tor of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church,  offered  prayer,  in 
which  he  said,  "We  thank  Thee  that  Thou  hast  put 
it  into  the  mind  and  heart  of  Thy  servant,  whom  Thou 
hast  so  highly  blessed  and  prospered,  to  employ  so  large  a 
portion  of  the  talents  intrusted  to  him  in  securing  the 
well-being  and  happiness  of  this  community ;  that,  allured 
from  grosser  pleasures  and  inferior  pursuits,  they  may  seek 
that  intellectual  and  moral  improvement  which  may  tend 
to  their  true  elevation,  refinement,  usefulness,  and  pleas- 
ure,—  binding  them  together  in  social  harmony  and  unity; 
making  this  city  a  centre  of  increasing  light  and  purity, 
and  exerting  a  happy  influence  throughout  the  land. 

"  May  he  be  spared  to  see  the  ripe  fruits  of  his  noble 
and  generous  benefactions,  experience  the  satisfaction  of 
having  been  in  Thy  hands  the  instrument  of  lasting  good 
to  his  race,  and  receive  not  only  the  gratitude  of  those 
who  shall  enjoy  the  benefits  of  this  Institute  through  com- 
ing ages,  but  also  be  replenished  with  the  richest  blessings 
of  Thy  providence  and  grace,  so  that  his  declining  jears 
may  be  full  of  peace  and  hope  and  joy !  and,  when  Ik j 
has  accomplished  his  work  on  earth,  may  he  be  gathered 
to  his  fathers,  full  of  honors,  enjoying  the  respect  of  man- 
kind, peace  of  conscience,  and  an  abundant  entrance  into 


120  THE   LTFE   OF   GEORGE   PEABODY. 

the  kingdom  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ!  and 
may  numbers  rise  up,  not  only  to  call  him  blessed,  but  also 
to  imitate  his  example!" 

After  this,  the  Governor  of  Maryland  addressed  Mr. 
Peabody  in  language  appropriate  to  the  occasion  ;  and  Mr. 
Peabody  responded.  A  portion  of  the  governor's  speech, 
and  the  whole  of  Mr.  Peabody's  reply,  are  already  given 
in  a  previous  chapter. 

On  the  Friday  after  the  dedication  of  the  Institute,  the 
school-children,  some  twenty  thousand  in  number,  greeted 
Mr.  Peabody  ;  and  from  the  steps  of  the  Institute  he  ad- 
dressed them  in  the  following  excellent  words  :  — 

"When  I  arrived  in  Baltimore  on  Wednesday,  my  dear 
young  friends,  I  did  not  expect  to  meet  you  thus ;  but 
finding,  by  a  visit  from  your  School-Commissioners'  Board, 
that  such -was  your  desire,  I  concluded  to  meet  you,  even 
should  it  be  necessary  to  postpone  my  departure  from  Bal- 
timore beyond  the  time  originally  fixed.  And  I  take  to 
myself  no  credit  for  doing  so :  for  I  assure  you  that  my 
desire  to  see  you  is  as  strong  as  yours  can  possibly  be  to 
see  me  ;  and  never  have  I  seen  a  more  beautiful  sight  than 
this  vast  collection  of  interesting  children.  The  review  of 
the  finest  army,  with  soldiers  clothed  in  brilliant  uni- 
forms, and  attended  by  the  most  delightful  strains  of  mar- 
tial music,  could  never  give  me  half  the  pleasure  that  it 
does  to  look  upon  you  here  with  your  bright  and  happy 
faces.     For  the  sight  of  such  an  army  as  I  have  spoken  of 


STILL  GIVING.  121 

would  be  associated  with  thoughts  of  bloodshed  and  human 
suffering,  of  strife  and  violence :  but  I  may  well  compare 
you,  on  the  other  hand,  to  an  army  of  peace  ;  and  your 
mission  on  earth  is  not  to  destroy  your  fellow-creatures, 
but  to  be  a  blessing  to  them ;  and  your  path,  when  you  go 
out  from  these  public  schools,  is  to  be  marked,  not  by  rav- 
ages and  desolation,  but,  I  trust,  by  kindly  words  and 
actions,  and  by  good  will  to  all  you  meet. 

"  With  such  an  assemblage  as  this,  therefore,  I  am  glad 
to  have  my  name  associated,  as  I  see  that  it  is  by  the 
badges  worn  by  many  of  you :  and  I  shall  feel  it  to  be  a 
very  great  honor  if  the  medals  thus  bearing  my  name  shall 
continue,  as  I  am  informed  they  have  heretofore  done,  to 
prove  incentives  to  application,  diligence,  and  good  con- 
duct ;  and  I  shall  ever  take  a  sincere  interest  in  those  to 
whom  they  are  awarded. 

"  There  is  another  relation  in  which  I  look  upon  you ; 
and  that  is,  the  future  guardians  of  the  Institute  from  which 
I  speak  to  you.  For,  in  a  few  short  years,  you  will  have 
left  the  places  you  now  occupy,  and,  taking  the  positions  of 
those  now  in  active  life,  will  have  the  care  and  enjoy  the 
privileges  of  this  institution.  And  I  hope  most  earnestly 
that  it  may  be  the  means  of  all  the  good  to  you  that  was 
contemplated  in  its  foundation  ;  and  that  you,  on  your  part, 
may  see  that  it  is  carried  on  always  with  kind  feeling  and 
harmony.  And  so  I  trust,  my  dear  young  friends,  that  in 
passing  by  this  edifice,  young  though  you  are  now,  you 
will  feel,  in  looking  upon  it,  not  that  it  is  one  for  grown-up 


122  THE   LIFE  OF   GEOIIGE   PEABODY. 

men  and  women,  and  with  which  you  have  no  concern, 
but  that  it  is  yours  also  ;  that  you  will  at  no  distant  day  have 
a  right  in  it  as  your  heritage ;  and  so  will  even  now,  in 
your  tender  years,  take  an  interest  in  it  and  all  things  con- 
nected with  it. 

"  I  have  now  but  little  advice  to  give  you;  fori  am  sure 
that  your  parents  and  teachers  have  bestowed,  and  always 
will  bestow,  upon  you  the  kindest  and  most  earnest  coun- 
sel :  but  I  would  say,  Attend  closely  to  your  studies,  and 
remember  that  your  close  attention  to  them  is  a  thousand 
times  more  important  to  you  than  to  your  teachers.  Bear 
in  mind,  that  the  time  of  your  studies,  though  it  may  now 
appear  long  to  you,  is,  in  reality,  very  brief ;  and  at  a  future 
day,  when  it  is,  perhaps,  too  late,  you  yourselves  will  feel 
that  it  is  so.  Do  not  be  ashamed  to  ask  advice  and  take 
counsel  from  those  older  than  yourselves  :  the  time  will 
come  when  you,  in  your  turn,  may  advise  those  younger 
than  you,  and  who  will  follow  in  your  footsteps.  Strive 
always  to  imitate  the  good  example  of  others.  I  am  glad 
that  your  assemblage  is  in  this  most  interesting  place :  for 
I  hope  that  your  future  recollections  of  this  occasion  may 
be  connected  with  the  thought  of  him  whose  statue  crowns 
yonder  beautiful  monument,  —  the  illustrious  father  of 
his  country,  —  and  that  you  may  be  induced  to  take  him 
more  and  more  for  your  model ;  for  he,  pre-eminently 
great  among  men,  was  also  great  and  good  in  his  boyhood 
and  youth.  As  time  has  passed,  it  has  rendered  eulogy  of 
him  as  superfluous  as  if  it  were  to  praise   the  sun  for  its 


STILL   GIVING.  123 

brightness ;  and  it  is  as  the  most  perfect  example  for  imita- 
tion the  world  has  ever  seen  that  we  must  look  upon  the 
character  of  Washington.  Remember,  then,  his  youthful 
life  ;  the  instances,  too  familiar  to  need  repeating  by  me, 
of  his  truthfulness,  his  self-denial,  his  integrity,  his  perse- 
verance, his  reverence  for  age,  his  affection  for  his  parents, 
and  his  fear  of  God.  Finally,  strive  always  to  act  as  if 
the  eye  of  your  heavenly  Father  were  upon  you ;  and,  if 
you  do  this,  his  countenance  will  always  smile  upon  you. 

"  I  fear,  my  young  friends,  this  is  the  last  time  I  shall 
ever  speak  to  you.  I  therefore  bid  you  farewell.  God 
bless  you  all!" 

From  the  report  of  the  treasurer,  it  may  be  seen,  that,  in 
all,  George  Peabody  gave  to  the  Peabody  Institute  in  Bal- 
timore the  sum  of  one  million  dollars.  A  princely  benefac- 
tion for  a  desirable  end  ! 


CHAPTER    VIII. 

GREATER    BENEFACTIONS. 

Amelioration  of  the  Condition  of  the  Poor  in  London.  — Magnificent  Be- 
quest of  Mr.  Peabody.  —  Description  of  the  Buildings. 

"  O  ye  who  bask  in  Fortune's  sun, 
And  Hope's  bright  garlands  wear ! 
Your  blessings  from  the  God  of  love 
Let  his  poor  children  share."—  Mrs.  Hale. 

"  He  that  hath  pity  upon  the  poor,  lendeth  to  the  Lord ;  and  that  which  he  hath 
given  will  he  pay  him  again."  — PROV.  xix.  17. 

[HEN,  in  1859,  Mr.  Peabody  returned  to  Eng- 
land from  a  visit  to  his  native  land,  lie  set 
about  giving  effect  to  his  long-cherished  inten- 
tions of  doing  something  for  the  laboring  poor 
of  London.  For  this  purpose,  he  donated  $1,750,000  be- 
tween March  1,  1862,  and  Dec.  5,  1868.  It  is  said  that 
Mr.  Peabody  did  not  bestow  many  gifts  to  relieve  individ- 
ual poverty  or  distress.  He  thought  that  much  of  the 
money  thus  contributed  only  tended  to  increase  the  evil 
it  sought  to  alleviate.  "  The  Philadelphia  Press  "  con- 
trasts the  wisdom  of  George  Peabody,  who  was  the  execu- 
tor of  his  own  liberal  schemes,  with  the  folly  of  Dr.  Rush 

124 


GREATER   BENEFACTIONS.  125 

of  that  city,  who  left  a  million-dollars'  bequest  in   such  a 
shape  that  no  one  is  satisfied. 

Col.  J.  W.  Forney,  in  his  interesting  "  Letters  from 
Europe,"  speaks  of  the  magnificent  bequest  of  Mr.  Pea- 
body,  and  describes  his  visit  to  Peabody  Square  ;  previ- 
ously mentioning  Mr.  Peabody  as  he  saw  him  on  board 
"  The  Scotia  "  when  he  was  returning  to  England.  His 
glowing  sentences  are  cheerfully  inserted  here.  Says  the 
colonel,  "  A  more  congenial  company  never  sailed  from 
the  New  World  to  the  Old ;  and,  when  we  separate,  the 
regret  at  parting  will  be  increased  by  the  recollection  that 
our  intercourse  might  have  been  profitably  prolonged. 
Of  course,  George  Peabody  is  the  central  figure  of  our 
circle.  As  I  studied  the  venerable  philanthropist,  yester- 
day, as  he  lay  dozing  on  one  of  the  sofas  in  the  forward 
saloon,  I  confessed  I  had  never  seen  a  nobler  or  more 
imposing  figure.  Never  has  human  face  spoken  more 
humane  emotions.  The  good  man's  soul  seems  to  shine 
out  of  every  feature  and  lineament.  His  fine  head,  rival- 
ling the  best  of  the  old  aristocracy,  and  blending  the  ideals 
of  benevolence  and  integrity,  his  tranquil  and  pleasing 
countenance,  and  his  silver  hair,  crown  a  lofty  form  of  un- 
usual dignity  and  grace.  The  work  of  this  one  plain 
American  citizen  silences  hypercriticism,  and  challenges 
gratitude.  He  has  completed  it  without  leaving  an  excuse 
for  ridicule  or  censure.  He  has  given  millions  to  deserv- 
ing charity,  without  pretence  or  partiality.  The  wealth 
gathered  by  more  than  a  generation  of  honest  enterprise 


126  THE  LIFE   OF   GEORGE   PEABODY. 

and  business  sagacity  he  distributes  among  the  poor  of  the 
two  nations  in  which  he  accumulated  it,  first  liberally  pro- 
viding for  his  own  blood  and  kindred.  If  this  is  not  an 
honorable  close  of  a  well-spent  life,  what  is  ?  That  the 
example  of  George  Peabody  will  awaken  imitation  in 
England,  I  do  not  know.  Unhappily  for  the  British 
aristocracy,  they  do  not  respond  to  the  call  of  a  genial 
philanthropy  ;  and  it  may  be  claimed  that  none  but  an 
American  can  truly  feel  for  the  sufferings  of  the  un- 
friended poor.  Therefore  I  am  not  surprised,  that,  before 
Mr.  Peabody  left  the  United  States,  he  was  satisfied  that 
what  he  has  done  for  London  will  be  surpassed  by  two  of 
his  opulent  friends  for  the  city  of  New  York.  .  .  .  Mr. 
Peabody  leaves  'The  Scotia'  at  Queenstown,  Ireland, 
where  he  will  stay  for  some  time  to  enjoy  the  salmon-fishing, 
in  company  with  his  old  friend,  Sir  Curtis  Lampson,  an 
American,  recently  made  a  baronet  for  his  services  in  con- 
nection with  the  Atlantic  Telegraph.  As  showing  the 
difference  between  the  great  landholders  of  Great  Britain 
and  the  sturdy  farmers  of  the  United  States,  it  deserves  to 
be  recorded,  that,  for  the  privilege  of  catching  trout  and 
salmon  for  six  months,  Mr.  Peabody  pays  the  neat  sum  of 
$2,500  in  gold  to  the  nobleman  who  owns  the  stream  in 
which  he  intends  to  angle.  These  preserves  of  game  and 
fish  are,  therefore,  not  only  a  source  of  pleasure,  but  of 
large  profit,  to  their  titled  proprietors.  Mr.  Peabody  has 
offered  me  letters  to  his  agents  in  London,  which  I  will 
not  fail  to  use,  for  the  purpose  of  personally  inspecting  the 


GREATER   BENEFACTIONS.  127 

commencement  of  the  great  work  in  that  city,  which  will 
associate  his  name  with  all  that  is  noble  and  generous,  as 
long  as  the  genius  of  Shakspeare  and  Milton  is    remem- 
bered and  cherished  among  the  sons  of  men." 
A  few  days  later,  Col.  Forney  wrote,  — 

"Liverpool,  England,  May  13,  1867. 
"  Mr.  Peabody  and  over  sixty  of  the  passengers  of '  The 
Scotia '  took  leave  of  us  about  midnight  of  Friday  in  an 
open  tug  and  in  the  midst  of  a  smart  shower,  which,  be- 
fore they  reached  the  shore,  increased  to  a  heavy  storm  of 
rain.  .  .  .  On  the  day  he  bade  us  farewell,  a  character- 
istic incident  took  place  between  Mr.  Peabody  and  the 
committee  appointed  by  the  Americans  on  board,  when 
they  tendered  him  their  resolutions  of  grateful  respect  for 
his  many  friendly  acts  of  benevolence.  One  of  the  reso- 
lutions referred  to  the  fact,  that,  whereas  Smithson  and 
Girard  had  bequeathed  their  benefactions  to  the  care  of 
posterity,  Mr.  Peabody  had  enhanced  the  value  of  his  ex- 
ample by  courageously  becoming  his  own  executor,  and  by 
giving  his  personal  care  to  the  execution  of  his  splendid 
trust.  When  this  resolution  was  read  to  him,  he  asked 
that  it  might  be  read  a  second  time  ;  after  which,  with  a 
winning  courtesy  I  shall  not  soon  forget,  he  said  that  he 
would  be  greatly  obliged  if  the  whole  passage  could  be 
stricken  out  of  the  proceedings.  6  Whatever  may  be  said 
of  me,'  he  added,  '  and  however  just  your  abstract  view 
may  be,  yet  even  the  shadow  of  a  contrast  that  might  be 


128  THE   LIFE   OF   GEORGE   PEABODY. 

construed  into  a  criticism  upon  these  two  illustrious  men 
should  be  carefully  avoided.  They  did  their  best,  and 
they  did  nobly,  and,  if  they  had  thought  of  it,  would 
probably  have  taken  exactly  my  course.'  The  suggestion 
was  instantly  complied  with." 

"May  25,  1867. 
"This  morning,  in  company  with  Sir  Curtis  M.  Lampson, 
one  of  the  trustees  of  the  Peabody  Fund  for  the  benefit  of 
the  poor  of  London,  and  Mr.  Somerby,  the  secretary  of 
the  board  (both  born  in  the  United  States),  I  made  my 
promised  visit  to  Peabody  Square,  Islington,  one  of  the 
five  structures  already  in  use,  or  soon  to  be  devoted  to  the 
noble  objects  of  the  generous  founder.  Mr.  Lampson,  a 
native  of  New  England,  was,  in  October,  1866,  created  a 
baronet  by  Queen  Victoria,  in  token  of  his  numerous  pub- 
lic services,  but  particularly  for  his  connection  with  the 
successful  enterprise,  —  the  Atlantic  Telegraph  Cable.  I 
found  him,  like  Mr.  Somerby,  nevertheless,  a  devoted  ad- 
mirer of  America  and  her  institutions,  and  a  genuine 
sympathizer  in  her  progress  and  her  principles.  The 
management  of  the  trust  has  been  properly  confided  to 
gentlemen  of  known  American  proclivities.  Lord  Stanley 
is  president,  assisted  by  Sir  Curtis  Lampson,  Sir  Emerson 
Tennett,  Mr.  J.  L.  Morgan  the  eminent  banker,  and  Mr. 
Somerby  as  secretary ;  and  the  manner  in  which  they 
have  so  far  discharged  their  duty  is  proved  by  the  singu- 
lar  success   that   has   crowned   their   labors.      With   the 


■?j%0iJ^  jj.\  \\% 


i. 


GREATER  BENEFACTIONS.  129 

exception  of  the  secretary,  they  all  serve  without  remu- 
neration. The  first  difficulty  they  met  was  how  to  define 
the  phrase  '  the  poor,'  and  decide  in  what  shape  (after 
that  problem  was  solved)  the  money  should  be  distributed. 
After  careful  reflection,  they  resolved  to  confine  their 
attention,  in  the  first  instance,  to  that  section  of  the  labo- 
rious poor  who  occupy  a  position  above  the  pauper ;  and 
to  assist  these  by  furnishing  to  them  comfortable  tenements 
at  reasonable  rates,  in  healthy  locations.  It  will  be  seen 
at  a  glance  that  more  good  can  be  effected  by  this  course 
than  by  attempting  to  alleviate  the  condition  of  those  who 
are  thrown  upon  the  public  charge,  and  are  necessarily 
objects  for  the  care  of  merely  charitable  institutions,  such 
as  almshouses,  hospitals,  dispensaries,  &c.  The  working- 
classes  of  London,  more  than  the  working-classes  of  any 
other  city  in  the  world,  need  exactly  such  benefactors  as 
Mr.  Peabody ;  and  the  plan  thus  agreed  upon  benefits  them 
directly,  without  impairing  their  self-respect.  The  honest 
laborer  always  shrinks  from  becoming  an  object  of  charity, 
and  thousands  prefer  the  pangs  of  want  to  the  pangs  of 
dependence ;  and  the  effort  of  the  trustees  to  prevent 
the  tenements  from  becoming  merely  establishments  for 
the  abject  poor  is  obvious  in  all  their  arrangements.  The 
impossibility  of  obtaining  good  tenements  at  a  reasonable 
rent,  in  this  swarm  of  humanity,  has  thrown  the  laboring- 
classes  into  the  vilest  haunts  of  vice,  disease,  and  filth  ;  and 
the  sure  effect  has  been  to  pollute  their  children  in  mind 
and  body.     The  Peabody  benevolence  meets  at  least  one 


130  THE   LIFE  OF   GEORGE  PEABODY. 

part  of  this  demand  ;  with  the  double  advantage  of  provid- 
ing good  tenements  for  the  industrious  poor,  and  of  adding 
the  small  rents  they  pay  to  the  general  fund,  so  as  to  per- 
petuate the  good  work,  and  to  increase  the  number  of 
tenements  with  increasing  years.  Sir  Curtis  Lampson 
estimates,  that,  if  the  money  thus  accumulated  is  honestly 
administered  for  two  hundred  years,  it  will  have  accumu- 
lated enough  to  provide  for  three-fourths  of  all  the  indus- 
trious poor  of  London.  That  this  is  not  an  extravagant 
expectation  can  be  shown  by  a  simple  calculation  of  the 
annual  interest  of  the  nearly  million  of  dollars  donated, 
with  the  regular  accretions  from  the  moderate  funds. 
There  are  many  interesting  incidents  on  record  of  the 
growth  of  small  bequests,  in  the  course  of  time,  into  enor- 
mous charities. 

"  The  premises  at  Islington  consist  of  four  blocks  of 
buildings ;  comprising,  in  all,  one  hundred  and  fifty-five 
tenements,  accommodating  six  hundred  and  fifty  persons,  or 
nearly  two  hundred  families.  The  whole  cost  of  these 
buildings,  exclusive  of  the  sum  paid  for  the  land,  amounted 
to  £  31,690.  The  principle  and  organization  in  each  of 
these  extensive  structures  are  the  same.  Drainage  and 
ventilation  have  been  insured  with  the  utmost  possible 
care ;  the  instant  removal  of  dust  and  refuse  is  effected  by 
means  of  shafts,  which  descend  from  every  corridor  to  cel- 
lars in  the  basement,  where  it  is  carted  away;  the  passages 
are  all  kept  clean,  and  lighted  with  gas,  without  any  cost 
to  the  tenants ;  water,  from  cisterns  in  the  roof,  is  distrib- 


GREATER   BENEFACTIONS.  131 

uted  by  pipes  into  every  tenement ;  and  there  are  baths 
free  for  all  who  desire  to  use  them.  Laundries,  with 
wringing-machines  and  drying-lofts,  are  at  the  service  of 
all  the  inmates,  who  are  thus  relieved  from  the  inconve- 
nience of  damp  vapors  in  their  apartments,  and  the  conse- 
quent damage  to  their  furniture  and  bedding. 

"  Every  living-room,  or  kitchen,  is  abundantly  provided 
with  cupboards,  shelving,  and  other  conveniences  ;  and 
each  fireplace  includes  a  boiler  and  an  oven.  But  what 
gratify  the  tenants,  perhaps,  more  than  any  other  part  of 
the  arrangements,  are  the  ample  and  airy  spaces  which 
serve  as  playgrounds  for  their  children,  where  they  are 
always  under  their  mothers'  eyes,  and  safe  from  the  risk 
of  passing  carriages  and  laden  carts. 

"In  fixing  the  rent  for  all  this  accommodation,  the 
trustees  were  influenced  by  two  considerations.  In  the 
first  place,  they  felt  it  incumbent  on  them,  conformably 
with  the  intention  of  rendering  the  Peabody  Fund  repro- 
ductive, to  charge  for  each  room  such  a  moderate  percent- 
age on  the  actual  cost  of  the  houses  as  would  brino;  in  a 
reasonable  actual  income  to  the  general  fund.  In  the  sec- 
ond place,  they  were  desirous,  without  coming  into  undue 
competition  with  the  owners  of  house-property  less  favora- 
bly circumstanced,  to  demonstrate  to  their  proprietors  the 
practicability  of  rendering  the  dwellings  of  the  laboring 
poor  healthful,  cheerful,  and  attractive  ;  and,  at  the  same 
time,  securing  to  the  landlords  a  fair  return  for  their  in- 
vestments. 


132  THE   LIFE  OF   GEORGE   PEABODY. 

"  At  the  present  moment,  owing  to  the  vast  changes  in 
the  metropolis,  by  which  the  houses  of  the  laboring  poor 
have  been  demolished  to  so  great  an  extent,  the  cost  of 
accommodation  for  them  has  been  greatly  increased.  It, 
of  course,  varies  in  different  localities  ;  but,  on  an  average, 
the  weekly  charge  for  a  single  room  of  a  very  poor  descrip- 
tion is  from  two  shillings  and  sixpence  to  three  shillings, — 
about  seventy-five  cents  American  money ;  for  two  rooms, 
five  shillings,  or  five  shillings  and  sixpence  ;  and  for  three, 
from  six  shillings  and  sixpence  to  seven  shillings.  But  the 
mere  test  of  rent  affords  no  adequate  standard  by  which 
to  contrast  the  squalor  and  discomfort  of  one  of  these  tene- 
ments with  the  light  and  airy  and  agreeable  apartments  in 
the  Peabody  buildings  :  and,  for  one  room  there,  the  charge 
per  week  is  two  shillings  and  sixpence ;  for  two  rooms, 
four  shillings  ;  and  for  three  rooms,  five  shillings. 

"  As  Mr.  Peabody  had  directed  by  his  letter  that  the 
sole  qualification  to  be  required  in  a  tenant  was  to  be  in 
4  an  ascertained  condition  of  life  such  as  brings  the  indi- 
vidual within  the  description  of  the  poor  of  London,  com- 
bined with  moral  character  and  good  conduct  as  a  mem- 
ber of  society,'  it  became  the  duty  of  the  trustees  to 
ascertain  by  actual  inquiry,  —  first,  that  the  circumstances 
of  the  person  proposing  himself  as  a  tenant  were  such  as 
to  entitle  him  to  admission ;  and  secondly,  that,  in  the 
opinion  of  his  employers,  there  was  nothing  in  his  conduct 
or  moral  character  to  disqualify  him  from  partaking  in  the 
benefits  of  the  fund. 


GREATER   BENEFACTIONS.  133 

"  These  two  conditions  once  established,  the  tenant,  on 
taking  possession  of  his  new  residence,  finds  himself  as 
free  in  action,  and  as  exempt  from  intrusive  restraint  or 
officious  interference,  as  if  he  occupied  a  house  in  one  of 
the  adjacent  streets.  His  sense  of  independence  is  pre- 
served by  the  consciousness  that  he  pays  for  what  he 
enjoys ;  and  by  this  payment  he  provides  himself  with  a 
dwelling  so  much  superior  to  that  which  he  had  formerly 
been  accustomed  to,  that  the  approach  to  his  home  is  no 
longer  accompanied  by  a  feeling  of  humiliation.  As  the 
result  of  the  above  inquiries,  several  applications  for  admis- 
sion were  declined,  on  the  grounds  either  of  a  condition  in 
life  too  easy  to  entitle  the  individual  to  be  classed  with  the 
laboring  poor,  or  of  a  moral  character  which  could  not 
bear  investigation,  because  of  habitual  drunkenness,  or 
conviction  before  a  legal  tribunal.  In  some  instances,  too, 
the  families  of  persons  desirous  to  become  tenants  were 
found  to  be  too  numerous  for  the  accommodation  availa- 
ble ;  and  these,  to  avoid  unwholesome  crowding,  were 
unavoidably  excluded. 

"  The  number  of  persons  who  took  possession  of  their 
new  homes  in  Spitalfields  was  upwards  of  two  hundred ; 
including  such  classes  as  char- women,  monthly  nurses, 
basket-makers,  butchers,  carpenters,  firemen,  laborers, 
porters,  omnibus-drivers,  seamstresses,  shoemakers,  tailors, 
waiters,  &c. 

"  In  the  buildings  at  Islington,  which  were  opened  in 
September,  18G5,  the  inmates  are  of  the  same  class,  with 


134  THE   LIFE   OF   GEORGE   PEABODY. 

the  addition  of  persons  employed  in  other  trades,  —  watch- 
finishers,  turners,  stay-makers,  smiths,  printers,  painters, 
laundresses,  letter-carriers,  artificial-flower  makers,  dress- 
makers, and  others.  The  entire  community  there  now 
consists  of  six  hundred  and  seventy-four  individuals ;  of 
whom  nineteen  are  widows,  the  rest  married  persons  and 
children. 

"In  evidence  of  the  improved  salubrity  of  the  buildings, 
the  superintendents  report  that  ill  health  is  rare  ;  and  that 
the  number  of  deaths  since  the  first  buildings  were  opened, 
nearly  three  years  ago,  have  been  one  man  aged  thirty, 
who  died  of  a  chronic  complaint,  and  four  children,  one 
of  whom  was  under  five,  and  two  under  two  years  old. 
The  social  contentment  of  the  tenants  is  freely  expressed. 
No  complaints  have  been  made  of  any  of  the  arrangements 
provided  for  their  comfort ;  and  they  all  speak  approvingly 
of  the  unaccustomed  advantages  they  enjoy.  Amongst 
these,  they  particularize  the  security  of  their  furniture  and 
effects,  which  are  no  longer  liable,  as  they  formerly  were, 
to  be  taken  in  distress,  should  the  landlord  become  a  de- 
faulter. 

"  As  regards  the  moral  conduct  of  the  tenantry,  the 
superintendent  reports  that  habitual  drunkenness  is  un- 
known, and  intoxication  infrequent ;  and  where  the  latter 
does  occur,  to  the  annoyance  of  others,  it  is  judiciously 
dealt  with  by  giving  notice  to  the  offender,  that,  in  the 
event  of  its  recurrence,  he  must  prepare  to  leave.  There 
has  been  but  one  person  removed  for  quarrelling  and  dis- 


GREATER  BENEFACTIONS.  135 

turbing  the  peace,  and  one  expelled  for  non-payment  of 
rent.  These  exceptions,  out  of  a  community  of  eight 
hundred  and  eighty  persons,  speak  strongly  for  the  self- 
respect  and  moral  principles  by  which  they  are  influenced. 

"  There  are  four  other  squares,  two  of  which  have 
already  received  occupants ;  and  the  others  will  soon  be 
completed.  The  main  buildings  are  of  stone,  five  stories 
high ;  four  being  occupied  by  the  families,  and  the  last,  or 
upper  range,  used  for  the  purpose  of  a  laundry  for  drying 
clothes,  where  fine  baths  are  provided  for  general  use.  I 
conversed  with  many  of  the  inmates :  they  were  all  clean, 
healthy,  and  happy.  The  men  were  off  at  work,  and  the 
women  seemed  to  be  industrious  and  tidy.  The  contrast 
between  their  condition  and  that  of  the  poor  in  the  misera- 
ble houses  around  us  was  painful  in  the  extreme.  In  some 
of  the  rooms  of  the  latter,  as  many  as  seven  people  were 
crowded.  In  other  sections,  the  difference  was  even  more 
saddening.  The  airy  and  comfortable  quarters  of  Mr. 
Peabody's  tenants,  with  the  neat  kitchens  and  comfortable 
bedrooms,  and  the  fine  playground  for  the  children,  the 
garden  for  common  cultivation  and  use,  and  the  work- 
shops for  such  of  the  men  as  might  prefer  working  on  the 
premises,  proved  that  the  architect  had  given  a  conscien- 
tious study  to  his  work. 

"  Mr.  Peabody's  example  will  be  followed,  now  that  its 
complete  success  is  established,  in  both  hemispheres.  Mr. 
A.  T.  Stewart  of  New  York  has  already  procured  copies 
of  the  plans,  and  photographs  of  the  buildings,  I  have 


136  THE   LIFE   OF   GEORGE  PEABODY. 

attempted  to  describe.  Parliament  has  repeatedly  noticed 
the  work  itself;  and  the  owners  of  the  colossal  fortunes  — 
the  Plutocracy  of  England  —  cannot  resist  the  eloquent 
invocation  to  their  consciences  and  pockets.  They  cannot 
afford  the  reproach  that  they  have  been  indifferent  while 
England's  honest  poor  have  been  relieved  by  an  Ameri- 
can. Indeed,  the  trustees  have  already  received  a  bequest 
of  thirty  thousand  pounds  sterling  from  a  worthy  gentle- 
man. The  romantic  stories  founded  upon  wills  and  lega- 
cies in  this  country,  taken,  in  most  cases,  from  the  facts, 
may  well  lead  to  the  hope  that  other  rich  men,  to  prevent 
their  falling  to  the  crown,  will  throw  their  estates  into  this 
noble  fund.  There  is  hardly  a  great  city  in  America  in 
which  Mr.  Peabody's  liberality  should  not  be  followed  up ; 
and  there  is  not  one  in  which  infinite  good  cannot  be 
wrought.  '  The  poor  ye  have  always ; '  and  as  I  saw 
these  happy  children  enjoying  their  spacious  playground 
this  morning,  and  talked  with  their  gratified  parents,  and 
heard  the  report  of  the  superintendent,  I  felt  proud  that 
the  author  of  all  this  splendid  benevolence  was  an  Ameri- 
can, and  predicted  that  his  royal  generosity  would  find 
many  imitators  in  his  own  and  other  countries." 

A  recent  writer  in  "  The  Boston  Journal  "  thus  tells  of 
a  visit  to  Peabody  Square  :  — 

"  I  must  tell  you  of  my  visit  to  Mr.  Peabody's  model 
buildings  near  Islington  ;  or,  rather,  the  buildings  which 
the  trustees  of  his  fund  built  according  to  their  own  ideas. 


GREATER  BENEFACTIONS.  137 

Told  that  Peabody  Square  was  the  most  favorable  speci- 
men of  these  groups  of  workmen's  homes,  I  drove  down 
there  on  a  recent  Sunday  and  a  foggy  one.  My  route 
lay  through  Islington ;  and,  long  before  coming  there,  we 
drove  through  one  of  those  interminable  streets  called 
roads  in  London,  where  one  sees  only  immense  museums 
of  trade  and  horrible  poverty.  .  .  .  But  the  neighborhood 
was  more  respectable  towards  Peabody  Square.  The  fog, 
however,  was  of  the  consistency  of  cream,  and  seemed  to 
strike  us  in  the  face  as  we  cut  through  it.  At  last,  cabby 
showed  me  up  a  narrow  and  dark  alley,  which  finally 
opened  on  a  square,  around  which  were  ranged  four  fine 
five-story  stone  blocks,  each  exactly  like  the  other.  Here 
were  no  quarrelling  or  fighting  children,  no  drunken  women, 
no  discourao-ed-lookino;  men.  There  were  flowers  in  the 
windows,  and  bright,  happy  faces  looked  out  from  among 
them  ;  but  the  blocks  had  a  prison-like  appearance,  never- 
theless. There  was  not  a  blade  of  grass,  or  a  twig,  to  be 
seen  in  the  stone-paved  yard ;  and  the  fog  settled  down  into 
the  area  worse  than  outside.  The  outer  doors  were  open ; 
and  I  soon  made  the  acquaintance  of  a  brawny  English- 
woman in  the  porter's  lodge  of  one  of  the  blocks.  How 
many  families  were  there  in  each  building  ? 
"  i  Forty-two  ;  and  p'raps  six  in  a  family,  sir.' 
"  So  I  began  to  question  her  on  the  internal  arrange- 
ments of  this  London  Sybaris  ;  because  you  often  hear  it 
said  that  Mr.  Peabocly's  money  has  been  misused,  and 
that  the  workmen  pay  too  highly  for  their  tenements. 


138  THE  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  PEABODY. 

"  '  Me'n  my  liusban'  has  been  porter  (sic)  here  for 
more'n  two  year ;  an'  my  man  was  here  from  the  beginning 
sir.  We  likes  it  ever  so  much.  We  pays  four  shillin'  a 
week  for  these  two  rooms ;  and  most  o'  them  generally 
pays  the  same.  'Tisn't  clear,  —  oh,  no!  but  it's  about  all 
most  o'  them  can  pay.     Still '  — 

"  We  looked  into  some  of  the  rooms.  It  depended 
on  the  taste,  more  than  the  resources,  of  the  individual 
tenant,  how  comfortable  he  made  himself.  There  were 
neatly  tiled  floors,  whitewashed  walls.  The  rooms  were 
small,  but  planned  as  economically,  as  to  space,  as  a  trav- 
elling-jacket. I  noticed,  especially,  that  each  room  was 
well  lighted  and  ventilated.  Some  families  had  three 
rooms,  so  planned  as  to  avoid  any  of  the  lamentable  lack 
of  decency  which  large  families  crowded  into  small  tene- 
ments sometimes  exhibit  in  London  and  New  York  and 
Boston.  Each  floor  is  divided  into  lettered  sections,  which 
are  traversed  by  spacious  corridors.  Each  tenement,  or 
suite  of  rooms,  has  one  door,  numbered,  opening  on  these 
corridors.  There  are  iron  traps  in  the  halls  in  each  story, 
into  which  the  dirt  and  rubbish  from  each  tenement  is 
swept ;  so  that  there  is  no  chance  for  an  accumulation  of 
filth.  In  the  upper  story  of  each  building  is  a  co-opera- 
tive laundry,  which  the  women  also  consider  as  their  ex- 
change, and  where  they  get  acquainted  over  their  work. 

"  '  Most  all  on  us  knows  every  other  one  on  us  here,' 
said  the  portress.  Pity  Mr.  Peabody  didn't  specify  that 
all  the  tenants  under  his  fund  should  be  taught  grammar ! 


GREATER   BENEFACTIONS.  139 

There  was  gas  in  many  of  the  rooms ;  but  that  was  paid 
for  as  an  extra.  '  Are  these  workmen,  living  here,  of  what 
you  would  call  the  better  class  ? '  I  asked. 

"  '  I  rather  think  not,  sir,'  was  the  answer.  '  Most  o' 
them  does  common  sort  o'  work ;  'n  sometimes  they  hasn't 
any  in  the  dull  season  :  but  they  manages  to  stick  by  the 
square,  in  any  case.  Me'n  my  man  does  all  the  hirin' 
rooms  ;   and  we  never  has  any  disputes.     All  pays,  allers.' 

u  Which  rather  proves  that  the  workmen  find  it  cheap 
and  advantageous  to  live  there ;  because  collecting  rents 
elsewhere,  in  the  dens  which  are  made  to  serve  the  poor 
as  houses,  is  sometimes  even  dangerous.  But  you  have 
only  to  put  a  man  in  a  den  to  make  him  a  beast. 

"  So,  in  this  square,  here  are  one  hundred  and  sixty- 
eight  families,  averaging  six  members  each,  renting  com- 
fortable rooms,  in  a  clean,  airy,  and  respectable  quarter  of 
the  city,  for  about  five  dollars  per  month,  per  tenement. 
Their  condition  is  much  improved  by  the  arrangements 
made  for  them ;  and  any  drunkenness  or  fighting  in  the 
building  is  never  known.  I  saw,  in  many  of  the  rooms, 
the  men  at  home,  evidently  enjoying  the  society  of  their 
families,  instead  of  swilling  beer  at  the  public-house.  I 
should  give  my  testimony  in  favor  of  the  success  of  Mr. 
Peabody's  money  as  a  most  practical  beneficence." 

"  The  London  Illustrated  News "  thus  refers  to  the 
benefaction  of  Mr  Peabody  :  — 

"  On  March  12,  1862,  Mr.  Peabody  addressed  a  letter 


140  THE  LIFE   OF  GEORGE  PEABODY. 

to  Mr.  C.  F.  Adams,  American  minister,  the  Right  Hon. 
Lord  Stanley,  Sir  J.  E.  Tennet,  Mr.  (now  Sir)  Curtis 
M.  Lampson,  Bart.,  and  Mr.  J.  S.  Morgan,  his  own 
partner  in  business,  informing  them  that  a  sum  of 
£150,000  stood  in  the  books  of  Messrs.  George  Peabody 
and  Co.,  to  be  applied  by  them  for  the  amelioration  of  the 
condition  of  the  poor  of  London. 

"  The  gentlemen  above  named  duly  entered  on  their 
trust,  which  has  been  applied  in  the  mode  indicated  by 
the  donor ;  namely,  in  the  erection  of  model  dwellings  for 
working-men.  In  January,  1866,  Mr.  Peabody  added 
another  X  100,000  to  the  fund ;  and,  on  Dec.  5  last, 
he  made  a  further  donation  of  about  fifteen  acres  of 
land  at  Brixton,  5,642  shares  in  the  Hudson's  Bay  Com- 
pany, and  £5,405  in  cash,  —  making  a  total  of  £100,000; 
thus  raising  the  amount  of  his  gift  to  London  to  £350,000. 
This  gift  is  held  by  the  trustees  under  two  deeds,  the  first 
having  reference  to  the  £150,000  first  given,  and  the 
second  including  the  remaining  £200,000 ;  which  latter 
was  not  to  be  put  in  operation  until  July,  1869,  and  has, 
therefore,  but  now  begun  to  be  dealt  with.  It  appears,  by 
the  statement  of  the  trustees  for  the  year  1868,  that  they 
now  hold  property  under  the  first  deed  valued  at  £173,- 
313;  the  increase  being  the  produce  of  rents  on  the  build- 
ings, added  to  the  interest  on  unexpended  capital.  Four 
ranges  of  buildings  have  been  already  erected,  which 
house  a  population  of  1,971  individuals,  composed  of  the 
families  of  working-men  earning  wages,  on  the  average, 


GREATER  BENEFACTIONS.  141 

under  twenty-one  shillings  a  week.  The  trustees  have 
acquired  other  sites,  on  which  they  are  about  to  complete 
further  blocks  of  houses  for  similar  purposes. 

"  By  the  last  will  and  testament  of  Mr.  Peabody,  opened 
on  the  day  of  his  funeral,  his  executors,  Sir  Curtis  Lamp- 
son,  and  Mr.  Charles  Reed,  M.P.,  are  directed  to  apply  a 
further  sum  of  £  150,000  to  the  Peabody  Fund  in  London. 
This  makes  half  a  million  sterling  bestowed  by  Mr.  Pea- 
body for  that  single  object." 


CHAPTER    IX. 


APPRECIATION. 


Visit  to  his  Native  Land.  —  The  Freedom  of  the  City  of  London.  —  The 
Queen's  Letter.  —  The  Queen's  Portrait.  —  The  Peabody  Statue. 


"  Praise  is  but  virtue's  shadow." 

Heath's  Clarastella. 

"  Honor  to  whom  honor."  — Rom.  xiii.  7. 


HE  munificence  of  the  man  who  remembered 
the  poor  of  London  was  appreciated  by  the 
people  of  England.  The  merchants  and  capi- 
talists of  London  showed  their  appreciation  of 
the  noble  deed  by  causing  a  costly  statue  of  Mr.  Peabody 
to  be  placed  in  one  of  the  squares  of  that  city  ;  and, 
shortly  before  he  left  England  for  a  visit  to  his  native 
land,  he  received  other  tokens  of  appreciation  from  the 
people  of  his  adopted  home,  and  from  the  sovereign  lady 
of  the  realm.  But  his  characteristic  modesty  made  it 
difficult  for  a  grateful  and  admiring  people  to  express  their 
appreciation  in  a  tangible  form.  The  same  feelings  that 
led  Mr.  Peabody  to  decline  the  public  acknowledgments 
of  the  cities   of  his  native  land  in  1857  prevented  him 

142 


APPIIECIAT10N.  143 

from  accepting  the  honors  which  Englishmen  were  ready 
to  shower  upon  him.  The  freedom  of  the  city  was 
bestowed  upon  him  by  the  corporation  of  London,  and 
acknowledgments  from  many  other  public  bodies  were 
freely  offered.  Arrangements  were  also  entered  into  for 
the  erection  of  his  statue.  The  only  occasion  on  which 
he  appeared  in  public  was  at  the  close  of  the  Working- 
Classes'  Exhibition  in  the  Guildhall  in  I860,  when  he 
received  an  enthusiastic  welcome  which  even  royalty  itself 
might  envy. 

A  short  time  before  his  sailing  for  America  in  1866, 
a  proposal  was  made  to  confer  on  Mr.  Peabody  either  a 
baronetcy  or  the  Grand  Cross  of  the  Order  of  the  Bath  ; 
but  he  declined  them  both.  When  asked  ivhat  gift,  if  any, 
he  would  accept,  he  replied,  "  A  letter  from  the  Queen  of 
England,  which  I  may  carry  across  the  Atlantic,  and 
deposit  as  a  memorial  of  one  of  her  most  faithful  sons." 
To  this  modest  request  a  ready  response  was  given  by  the 
following  letter  :  -^ 

"Windsor  Castle,  March  28,  1866. 

"  The  Queen  hears  that  Mr.  Peabody  intends  shortly  to 
return  to  America;  and  she  would  be  sorry  that  he  should 
leave  England  without  being  assured  by  herself  how 
deeply  she  appreciates  the  noble  act,  of  more  than  princely 
munificence,  by  which  he  has  sought  to  relieve  the  wants 
of  her  poorer  subjects  residing  in  London.  It  is  an  act, 
as  the  Queen  believes,  wholly  without  parallel  ;  and  which 
will  carry  its  best  reward  in  the  consciousness  of  having 


144  THE  LIFE   OF   GEORGE  PEABODY. 

contributed  so  largely  to  the  assistance  of  those  who  can 
little  help  themselves. 

"  The  Queen  would  not,  however,  have  been  satisfied 
without  giving  Mr.  Peabocly  some  public  mark  of  her 
sense  of  his  munificence  ;  and  she  would  gladly  have  con- 
ferred upon  him  either  a  baronetcy  or  the  Grand  Cross  of 
the  Order  of  the  Bath,  but  that  she  understands  Mr. 
Peabody  to  feel  himself  debarred  from  accepting  such  dis- 
tinctions. 

"  It  only  remains,  therefore,  for  the  Queen  to  give  Mr. 
Peabody  this  assurance  of  her  personal  feelings ;  which  she 
would  further  wish  to  mark  by  asking  him  to  accept  a 
miniature  portrait  of  herself,  which  she  will  desire  to  have 
painted  for  him,  and  which,  when  finished,  can  either  be 
sent  to  him  in  America,  or  given  to  him  on  the  return 
which  she  rejoices  to  hear  he  meditates  to  the  country 
that  owes  him  so  much." 

To  this  letter  Mr.  Peabody  replied :  — 

"  The  Palace  Hotel,  Buckingham  Gate, 
London,  April  3,  1866. 

"  Madam,  —  I  feel  sensibly  my  inability  to  express  in 
adequate  terms  the  gratification  with  which  I  have  read 
the  letter  which  your  Majesty  has  done  me  the  high  honor 
of  transmitting  by  the  hands  of  Earl  Russell. 

"  On  the  occasion  which  has  attracted  your  Majesty's 
attention,  of  setting  apart  a  portion  of  my  property  to 
ameliorate  the  condition  and  augment  the  comforts  of  the 


APPRECIATION.  145 

poor  of  London,  I  have  been  actuated  by  a  deep  sense  of 
gratitude  to  God,  who  has  blessed  me  with  prosperity,  and 
of  attachment  to  this  great  country,  where,  under  your 
Majesty's  benign  rule,  I  have  received  so  much  personal 
kindness,  and  enjoyed  so  many  years  of  happiness.  Next 
to  the  approval  of  my  own  conscience,  I  shall  always  prize 
the  assurance  which  your  Majesty's  letter  conveys  to  me 
of  the  approbation  of  the  Queen  of  England,  whose  whole 
life  has  attested  that  her  exalted  station  has  in  no  degree 
diminished  her  sympathy  with  the  humblest  of  her  sub- 
jects. The  portrait  which  your  Majesty  is  graciously 
pleased  to  bestow  on  me  I  shall  value  as  the  most  gra- 
cious heirloom  that  I  can  leave  in  the  land  of  my  birth  ; 
where,  together  with  the  letter  which  your  Majesty  has 
addressed  to  me,  it  will  ever  be  regarded  as  an  evidence 
of  the  kindly  feeling  of  the  Queen  of  the  United  King- 
dom toward  a  citizen  of  the  United  States. 
"  I  have  the  honor  to  be 

"  Your  Majesty's  most  obedient  servant, 

"  George  Peabody." 

A  writer  in  a  Boston  paper  states,  that,  — 

"  After  the  completion  of  the  Institute  at  Peabody  in 
1854,  its  founder  made  it  the  depository  of  all  those 
appreciative  personal  testimonials  which  are  commonly 
the  heirlooms  of  families,  and  which,  in  America,  consti- 
tute the  only  substitutes  for  the  decorations,  arms,  and 
insignia  of  rank.  It  is  well  known  that  the  intimation 
10 


146  THE  LIFE   OF  GEORGE  PEABODY. 

that  Mr.  Peabody  would  decline  a  baronetcy,  or  any  other 
title  or  decoration  with  which  England  usually  recognizes 
and  rewards  merit,  induced  the  queen  to  offer  her  minia- 
ture as  a  substitute  for  the  honors  he  declined,  and  a 
testimonial  of  her  appreciation  of  his  benevolence  to  the 
poor  of  London.  On  the  occasion  of  Mr.  Peabody's  visit 
to  this  country  in  1866,  he  informed  the  trustees  of  the 
Institute  that  the  miniature  would  be  confided  to  their 
4  personal  charge  and  custody  ; '  and  a  share  of  the  large 
additional  sum  which  he  then  gave  for  the  enlargement 
of  the  Institute  building,  and  the  increase  of  its  funds,  was 
expended  in  the  construction  of  a  vault  in  which  to  pre- 
serve the  valuable  gifts  which  he  had  received  as  an 
acknowledgment  of  his  various  charities. 

"  Among  the  gifts  deposited  in  the  vault  are  the  gold 
box  containing  the  freedom  of  the  city  of  London  ;  a  gold 
box  from  the  Fishmongers'  Association  of  London;  a  book 
of  autographs  which  Mr.  Peabody  collected  himself,  and 
which  he  highly  prized,  as  a  memorial  of  his  wide  ac- 
quaintance, and  of  a  more  general  appreciation  of  his 
character  than  gifts  alone  could  supply ;  a  presentation- 
copy  of  the  Queen's  first  published  book,  with  her  auto- 
graph in  the  usual  form ;  a  cane  which  belonged  to  Ben- 
jamin Franklin,  and  which,  given  to  one  of  Franklin's 
London  friends  in  the  last  century,  can  be  traced  from  one 
donee  to  another,  until  it  became  the  property  of  Mr. 
Peabody ;  the  Congressional  medal  which  was  presented 
in  token  of  that  magnificent  educational  gift  to  the  South, 


APPRECIATION.  147 

which,  in  its  all-embracing  charity,  makes  no  distinctions 
of  race  or  color  ;  and  the  miniature  of  the  Queen,  and  her 
autograph-letter  in  which  the  gift  is  suggested.  The 
great  pecuniary  value  of  the  portrait,  the  unusual  and 
generous  character  of  the  gift,  and  its  inestimable  value  as 
an  international  courtesy,  rendered  it  desirable,  that,  as 
far  as  human  means  permitted,  it  should  be  placed  beyond 
the  reach  of  accident. 

"  This  picture  is  mounted  in  an  elaborate  and  massive 
chased  frame  of  gold.  On  the  frame,  above  the  miniature, 
is  the  royal  crown.  The  miniature  is  a  half-length,  four- 
teen inches  long,  and  ten  wide.  When  the  Queen  sat  for 
the  picture,  she  was  attired  in  such  demi-robes  of  state  as 
she  has  worn  on  a  few  public  occasions  since  the  decease 
of  Prince  Albert.  Her  dress  was  of  black  silk,  with  a 
dark-velvet  train,  both  of  which  were  trimmed  with 
ermine.  Her  head-dress  was  the  favorite  Mary-Stuart 
cap,  surmounted  with  a  demi-crown.  The  Koh-i-noor 
and  a  jewelled  cross  were  her  principal  ornaments.  The 
portrait  is  in  enamel,  by  Tilb,  a  London  artist.  It  is  the 
largest  miniature  of  the  kind  ever  attempted  in  England  ; 
and  a  furnace  was  specially  built  for  the  execution  of  the 
work.  Its  cost  has  been  estimated  at  from  thirty  thousand 
to  fifty  thousand  dollars  in  gold ;  but  it  is  not  known  that 
any  one  in  this  country  has  information  of  the  exact  sum. 

The  likeness,  though  a  good  deal  idealized,  like  the 
beautiful  but  too  flattering  portrait  on  porcelain,  is  said  to 
be  remarkably  good  ;  and  a  near  inspection  of  the   work 


148  THE   LIFE   OF   GEORGE   PEABODY. 

shows  that  the  artist  has  not  been  so  supple  a  courtier  as 
to  neglect  the  impress  which  time  and  care,  motherhood 
and  widowhood,  have  left  on  that  once  handsome  and 
joyous  face.  Such  is  the  situation  of  the  vault,  the 
arrangement  of  the  light,  and  the  facilities  for  moving  the 

OCT'  & 

picture,  that  it  is  conveniently  and  advantageously  exhib- 
ited without  removal. 

"The  library  contains  about  thirteen  thousand  volumes; 
among  which  are  many  rare  books  and  rarer  serial  publi- 
cations, either  collected  by  Mr.  Peabody,  or  purchased 
and  presented  by  him,  from  time  to  time,  for  the  use  and 
endowment  of  the  Institute.  The  collection  is  particu- 
larly rich  in  reviews  and  magazines,  and  includes  one  of 
the  very  few  sets  in  the  country  of  '  The  London  Times.' 
The  library-room  also  contains  busts  of  Shakspeare,  Mil- 
ton, "Webster,  Hawthorne,  and  the  founder  of  the  Insti- 
tute. 

"  The  splendid  full-length  portrait  of  Peabody  by 
Healy  —  ordered  by  the  citizens  of  Danvers  soon  after 
the  announcement  of  the  original  gift,  and  placed  over  the 
rostrum  in  the  lecture-hall  a  few  days  before  the  dedica- 
tory-exercises in  1854  —  represents  Mr.  Peabody  as  many 
will  recall  him,  and  as  he  appeared  on  the  occasion  of  his 
visit  in  1856,  —  full  of  life,  vigor,  and  health,  his  manly 
form  unshrunken  by  age  and  disease,  and  his  fine  face 
retaining  a  larger  share  of  the  cheerfulness  of  vouth  than 
usually  survives  the  vexations  and  cares  of  sixty  years. 
A  fine  picture  of  Rufus  Choate,  who  began  his  wonderful 


\ 


APPRECIATION.  149 

professional  career  in  Danvers,  and  who  always  recalled 
those  early  associations  with  pleasure,  also  adorns  the  hall. 
The  portrait  of  Edward  Everett,  a  warm  friend  and 
admirer  of  Mr.  Peabody,  and  the  most  eloquent  of  his 
eulogists,  as  those  who  recall  his  speech  at  the  Peabody 
banquet  in  1856  will  readily  admit,  is  also  in  the  place  of 
honor  over  the  rostrum.  Both  of  these  pictures  are  by 
Ames,  the  American  artist." 

"  The  Christian  Leader  "  thus  refers  to  the  inaugura- 
tion of  the  Peabody  statue  :  — 

"  George  Peabody  gave  the  poor  of  England  a  princely 
sum  ;  so  gave  it,  that  it  will  prove  a  stream  of  beneficence 
so  long  as  London  shall  have  the  poor  with  it.  The  goo4 
Queen  honors  him,  and  presents  him  with  her  portrait, 
paying  therefor  the  sum  of  seventy  thousand  dollars.  The 
people  of  London  honor  him,  and,  by  subscription,  raise  a 
fund  to  procure  his  statue,  to  be  placed  conspicuously  in  *a 
city  square.  Mr.  Story,  the  American  sculptor,  had  the 
honor  of  executing  the  work.  The  Prince  of  Wales  pre- 
sided at  the  ceremony  of  '  unveiling.'  It  was  not  looked 
forward  to  as  a  'sensation.'  The  depth  of  London's  love  for 
the  philanthropist  was  not  at  all  comprehended.  Where 
hundreds  were  expected,  the  people  came  by  thousands. 
4  The  popular  excitement,'  says  '  The  Tribune's  '  corre- 
spondent, 4  surpassed  expectation,  and  made  the  matter 
loom  larger  than  the  proceedings  would  have  done  without 
the  huge  crowd  as  a  background.     Mr.  Peabody  has,  of 


150  THE   LIFE   OF   GEORGE   PEABODY. 

course,  a  great  popularity  in  London  ;  but  no  effort  seems 
to  have  been  made  to  bring  it  forward.  People  came 
spontaneously;  and  as  they  could  not  be  admitted  into  the 
enclosure,  nor  get  within  sight  or  sound  of  what  was  going 
on,  they  filled  all  the  open  spaces  about  the  band  and  in 
front  of  the  Royal  Exchange.  Threadneedle  Street  was 
crammed ;  and  Cornhill  overflowed  into  all  the  cross- 
streets.  There  were  more  thousands  of  men  than  could 
be  counted ;  and  they  occupied  the  leisure  half-hour,  before 
the  speeches  began,  in  the  true  British  pastimes  of  cheer- 
ing and  chaffing  the  successive  arrivals  of  the  lucky  few 
who  had  tickets  to  the  enclosure.  It  looked,  at  one  time, 
as  if  the  police  had  more  than  they  could  do  to  keep  a  pas- 
sage open.  With  the  help  of  a  troop  of  the  Honorable 
Artillery  Company,  they  did  well.  The  Lord  Mayor,  Mr. 
Motley,  and  Mr.  Story  the  artist,  were  present.  It  is  with 
uncommon  satisfaction  we  put  into  conspicuous  type  the 
Prince's  brief  address,  at  the  same  time  calling  special 
attention  to  the  closing  sentences.     He  said,  — 

"  4  The  name  of  George  Peabody  is  so  well  known  to 
all  of  you,  that,  really,  I  feel  some  difficulty  in  recounting 
any  thing  new.  But,  at  the  same  time,  it  affords  me  the 
deepest  gratification  in  paying  a  mark  of  tribute  and 
of  respect  to  the  name  of  the  great  American  citizen, 
the  great  philanthropist,  —  I  may  say,  the  citizen  of  the 
world.  England  can  never  adequately  pay  the  debt  of 
gratitude  which  she  owes  to  that  man  ;  London  especially, 
to  which  his  wonderful  charity  has  been  so  liberally  dis- 


APPRECIATION.  151 

tributed.  For  a  man  not  born  in  this  country  to  give  a 
sum  of,  I  believe,  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  million  of 
pounds  sterling  towards  benevolent  objects  is  a  fact  which 
is  unequalled.  His  name  will  go  down  to  posterity  as  one 
who  has,  as  Sir  Benjamin  Phillips  so  justly  remarked, 
tried  to  ameliorate  the  condition  of  his  fellow-citizens, 
and  especially  to  benefit  their  moral  and  social  character. 
I  have  not  yet  had  the  opportunity  of  seeing  the  statue 
which  is  shortly  to  be  unveiled ;  but,  from  having  the 
privilege  of  knowing  the  sculptor  (Mr.  Story)  for  a  space 
of  now  about  ten  years,  I  feel  sure  it  will  be  one  which  is 
worthy  of  being  placed  here,  and  worthy  of  the  man  to 
whom  it  is  dedicated.  Before  concluding  the  few  imper- 
fect remarks  which  I  have  ventured  to  address  to  you,  let 
me  thank  Mr.  Motley,  the  American  minister,  for  his 
presence  on  this  occasion,  and  assure  him  what  pleasure  it 
gives  me  to  take  part  in  this  great,  and,  I  might  almost 
say,  national  ceremonial  of  paying  tribute  to  the  name  of 
his  great  and  distinguished  countryman.  Be  assured  that 
the  feelings  which  I  personally  entertain  towards  America 
are  the  same  as  they  ever  were.  I  can  never  forget  the 
reception  which  I  had  there  nine  years  ago ;  and  my  ear- 
nest hope  and  wish  is  that  England  and  America  may  go 
hand  in  hand  in  peace  and  prosperity.'  " 

"  The  Tribune  "  correspondent  tells  us  that  Mr.  Mot- 
ley stood  by  the  side  of  the  Prince,  and  bowed  his  response 
to  these  sentences,  which  were  spoken  with  much  more 
emphasis  than  the  Prince  commonly  puts  into  his  words, 


152  THE  LIFE.  OF  GEORGE  PEABODY. 

and  with  evidently  genuine  feeling.  Mr.  Motley's  reply 
is  as  durable  a  monument  to  Mr.  Pcabody's  memory  as 
the  marble  itself.     He  said,  — 

u  May.it  please  your  Royal  Highness,  my  Lord  Mayor, 
ladies  and  gentlemen  :  I  thank  you  sincerely  for  the  very 
cordial  reception  you  have  given  me,  and  his  Royal  High- 
ness for  the  kind  and  courteous  words  he  has  spoken.  I 
should  be  glad,  as  an  American  citizen,  to  pronounce  a  fit 
eulogy  on  our  great  philanthropist;  but  the  brief  and 
rapidly-fleeting  moments  allotted  on  this  occasion  will 
not  permit  such  eulogy.  Nor  is  it  necessary.  His  name 
alone  is  eulogy  enough.  Most  fortunate  and  most  gener- 
ous of  men,  he  has  discovered  a  secret  for  which  misers 
might  sigh  in  vain,  —  the  art  of  keeping  a  great  fortune 
to  himself  so  long  as  time  shall  be.  In  this  connection,  I 
have  often  thought  of  a  famous  epitaph  inscribed  on  the 
monument  of  an  old  Earl  of  Devon, —  one  who  was  com- 
monly called  '  the  good  Earl  of  Devon.'  No  doubt,  the 
inscription  is  familiar  to  many  who  now  hear  me  :  '  What 
I  spent,  that  I  had  ;  what  I  saved,  that  I  lost ;  that 
wThich  I  gave  away  remains  with  me.'  And  what  a  mag- 
nificent treasure,  according  to  these  noble  and  touching 
words,  has  our  friend  and  the  poor  man's  friend  pre- 
served for  himself  till  time  and  he  shall  be  no  more ! 

'And  tongues  to  be  his  bounty  shall  rehearse 
When  all  the  breathers  of  this  world  are  dead.' 

"  Of  all  men  in  the  world,  he  least  needs  a  monument ; 


APPRECIATION.  153 

but,  as  it  was  to  be  erected,  I  am  glad  that  the  task  has 
been  committed  to  the  great  American  sculptor  whom  I 
have  had  the  honor  and  happiness  of  calling  my  intimate 
friend  for  many  years.  And,  during  a  recent  residence  in 
Rome,  I  had  the  good  fortune  of  seeing  this  statue,  which 
has  just  been  unveiled  in  this  busy  heart  of  England's 
great  metropolis  by  the  royal  hand  of  England's  Prince. 
I  saw  it  grow,  day  by  day,  beneath  the  plastic  fingers  of 
the  artist ;  and  it  was  my  privilege  on  one  occasion  —  a 
privilege  I  shall  never  forget  —  of  seeing  Mr.  Peabody 
and  his  statue  seated  side  by  side,  and  of  debating  within 
myself,  without  coming  to  a  satisfactory  conclusion, 
whether,  on  the  whole,  if  I  may  be  allowed  so  confused  an 
expression,  —  whether  the  statue  was  more  like  Mr.  Pea- 
body,  or  Mr.  Peabody  more  like  the  statue.  It  is  a 
delightful,  it  always  will  be  a  delightful  thought,  that  the 
thousands  and  tens  of  thousands  who  daily  throng  this 
crowded  mart  will  see  him  almost  as  accurately  as  in  the 
flesh.  And  the  future  generations  —  generations  after 
generations,  the  long,  yet  unborn,  but,  I  fear,  never-ending 
procession  of  London's  poor  —  will  be  almost  as  familiar 
with  the  form  and  the  features  of  their  great  benefactor  as 
are  those  of  us  who  have  the  privilege  and  the  happiness 
of  knowing  him  in  the  flesh.  Your  Royal  Highness  and 
my  Lord  Mayor,  I  beg  to  thank  you  for  your  courtesy." 


CHAPTER   X. 


MR.    PEABODY    IN    AMERICA. 


The   Flood    of   Letters.  —  The  Gift  for  Education  in  the  South.  —  Mr. 
Peabody's  Letter.  —  His  Gift  seconded  by  Publishers. 

"  'Tis  education  forms  the  common  mind : 
Just  as  the  twig  is  bent,  the  tree's  inclined."  —  Pope. 

"To  do  good  and  to  communicate,  forget  not;  for  with  such  sacrifices  God  is  well 
pleased."  —  Heb.  xiii.  16. 

|T  is  said  that  Mr.  Peabody  "  was  of  course  very 
much  annoyed,  during  his  last  visits,  by  appeals 
to  his  purse,  as  well  as  by  impertinent  intru- 
sions upon  his  privacy.  To  individual  appeals 
for  assistance  he  never  listened.  All  his  letters  were  opened 
and  read  by  his  sister ;  and  she  exercised  her  judgment 
about  letting  him  see  them,  or  throwing  them  into  the 
fire.  Begging-letters  of  any  sort  he  never  wished  to 
read.  Even  deserving  charitable  institutions  got  nothing 
from  him  if  they  asked  for  it.  He  gave  only  as  the  mood 
took  him  ;  and  it  may  be  safely  said,  that  all  his  benefac- 
tions were  the  spontaneous  outgrowth  of  his  own  ideas  of 
what  the  world  needed,  and  what  could  be  most  easily 
and  efficiently  put  into  practical  operation.     He  was,  in 

154 


MR.   PEABODY  IN  AMERICA.  155 

short,  a  philanthropist  without  sentiment ;  a  man  of  ten- 
der heart  and  generous  impulses,  who  believed  that  the 
highest  duty  of  the  rich  was,  not  to  dole  out  small  sums 
for  the  relief  of  the  improvident,  but  to  put  the  common- 
wealth in  the  way  of  diminishing  improvidence  by  general 
education,  and  helping  the  poor  to  live  in  decency  and 
virtue.  There  was  no  imaginable  reason  why  he  should 
not  rigorously  carry  out  his  principle,  that,  while  the  public 
had  claims  upon  him,  individuals  had  none.  It  will  be  a 
part  of  his  panegyric,  in  time  to  come,  that  he  took  this 
plain,  sensible  view  of  his  duties  ;  that  he  saw  so  clearly 
how  he  could  make  his  money  go  farthest." 

A  perfect  flood  of  letters  poured  upon  him  when  last 
in  America ;  they  were  to  be  numbered  by  hundreds, 
every  day,  it  is  said:  but  he  rarely  read  one  of  them. 
The  sound  of  his  munificence  had  gone  abroad ;  and,  very 
naturally,  there  were  needy  ones  who  desired  to  share  his 
bounty,  and  felt  at  liberty  to  ask  it.  He  felt  at  liberty  to 
refuse,  so  long  as  he  gave  so  liberally  in  other  directions. 

His  crowning  donation  was  that  of  nearly  two  million 
dollars  to  build  up  the  cause  of  education  in  the  South. 
This  last  fund  was  placed  in  the  hands  of  trustees  of  the 
highest  character  for  integrity  and  zealous  interest  in  the 
cause  of  education ;  and  was  to  be  applied  to  assist  schools, 
and  to  promote  the  education  of  the  people,  without  dis- 
tinction of  race   or  color,   in  the  Southern   States. 

An  appropriate  acknowledgment  of  this  last  generous 
gift  was  made  by  the  Government  of  the  United  States. 


156  THE  LIFE   OF   GEORGE  PEABODY. 

A  costly  and  elegant  gold  medal  was  presented  to  him 
in  pursuance  of  an  act  of  Congress,  bearing  on  one  side 
a  fine  profile  portrait  of  the  recipient,  and  on  the  other 
the  inscription,  "  The  people  of  the  United  States  to 
George  Peabody,  in  acknowledgment  of  his  beneficent 
promotion  of  universal  education." 

The  following  is  a  copy  of  the  letter  of  Mr.  Peabody 
to  the  trustees  of  the  Southern  Educational  Fund :  — 

"  To  Hon.  Robert  C.  Wintkrop  of  Massachusetts ;  Hon.  Hamilton  Fish 
of  New  York ;  Right  Rev.  Charles  P.  Mcllvaine  of  Ohio ;  Gen. 
U.  S.  Grant  of  the  United-States  Army ;  Hon.  William  C.  Rives 
of  Virginia;  Hon.  John  H.  Clifford  of  Massachusetts;  Hon. 
William  Aiken  of  South  Carolina ;  William  M.  Evarts,  Esq.,  of 
New  York ;  Hon.  William  A.  Graham  of  North  Carolina ;  Charles 
McAllister  of  Pennsylvania;  George  N.  Riggs,  Esq.,  of  Washing- 
ton ;  Samuel  Wetmore,  Esq.,  of  New  York  ;  Edward  A.  Bradford, 
Esq.,  of  Louisiana ;  George  N.  Eaton,  Esq.,  of  Maryland ;  and 
George  Peabody  Russell,  Esq.,  of  Massachusetts. 

"  Gentlemen,  —  I  beg  to  address  you  on  a  subject 
which  occupied  my  mind  long  before  I  left  England ;  and 
in  regard  to  which,  one  at  least  of  you  (the  Hon.  Mr. 
Winthrop,  the  distinguished  and  valued  friend  to  whom  I 
am  so  much  indebted  for  cordial  sympathy,  careful  consid- 
eration, and  wise  counsel  in  this  matter)  will  remember 
that  I  consulted  him  immediately  upon  my  arrival  in  May 
last. 

"  I  refer  to  the  educational  needs  of  those  portions  of 
our  beloved  and   common  country  which  have    suffered 


MR.   PEABODY  IN  AMERICA.  157 

from  the  destructive  ravages  and  the  not  less  disastrous 
consequences  of  civil  war. 

"With  my  advancing  years,  my  attachment  to  my  native 
land  has  but  become  more  devoted.  My  hope  and  faith  in 
its  successful  and  glorious  future  have  grown  brighter  and 
stronger ;  and  now,  looking  forward  beyond  my  stay  on 
earth,  as  may  be  permitted  to  one  who  has  passed  the 
limit  of  threescore  and  ten  years,  I  see  our  country,  united 
and  prosperous,  emerging  from  the  clouds  which  still  sur- 
round her,  taking  a  higher  rank  among  the  nations,  and 
becoming  richer  and  more  powerful  than  ever  before. 

"  But,  to  make  her  prosperity  more  than  superficial, 
her  moral  and  intellectual  development  should  keep  pace 
with  her  material  growth  ;  and,  in  those  portions  of  our 
nation  to  which  I  have  referred,  the  urgent  and  pressing 
physical  needs  of  an  almost  impoverished  people  must,  for 
some  years,  preclude  them  from  making,  by  unaided  effort, 
such  advances  in  education,  and  such  progress  in  the  diffu- 
sion of  knowledge  among  all  classes,  as  every  lover  of  his 
country  must  earnestly  desire. 

"  I  feel  most  deeply,  therefore,  that  it  is  the  duty  and 
privilege  of  the  more  favored  and  wealthy  portions  of  our 
nation  to  assist  those  who  are  less  fortunate  ;  and  with 
the  wish  to  discharge,  so  far  as  I  may  be  able,  my  own 
responsibility  in  this  matter,  as  well  as  to  gratify  my  desire 
to  aid  those  to  whom  I  am  bound  by  so  many  ties  of 
attachment  and  regard,  I  give  to  you,  gentlemen,  most  of 
whom  have  been  my  personal  and  especial  friends,  the 


158  THE  LIFE   OF  GEOUGE  PEABODY. 

sum  of  one  million  dollars,  to  be  by  you  and  your  suc- 
cessors held  in  trust,  and  the  income  thereof  used  and 
applied  in  your  discretion  for  the  promotion  and  encour- 
agement of  intellectual,  moral,  or  industrial  education 
among  the  young  of  the  more  destitute  portions  of  the 
Southern  and  South-Western  States  of  the  Union  ;  my 
purpose  being,  that  the  benefits  intended  shall  be  distrib- 
uted among  the  entire  population,  without  other  distinc- 
tion than  their  needs  and  the  opportunities  of  usefulness 
to  them. 

"  Besides  the  income  thus  derived,  I  give  to  you  per- 
mission to  use  from  the  principal  sum,  within  the  next  two 
years,  an  amount  not  exceeding  forty  per  cent. 

"  In  addition  to  this  gift,  I  place  in  your  hands  bonds 
of  the  State  of  Mississippi,  issued  to  the  Planters'  Bank, 
and  commonly  known  as  Planters'  Bank  Bonds,  amounting, 
with  interest,  to  about  eleven  hundred  thousand;  the 
amount  realized  by  you  from  which  is  to  be  added  to  and 
used  for  the  purposes  of  this  trust. 

"  These  bonds  were  originally  issued  in  payment  for 
stock  in  that  bank  held  by  the  State,  and  amounted,  in  all, 
to  only  two  million  dollars.  For  many  years,  the  State  paid 
the  interest,  without  interruption,  till  1840 ;  since  which 
no  interest  has  been  paid,  except  a  payment  of  about  a 
hundred  thousand  dollars,  which  was  found  in  the  treasury 
applicable  to  the  payment  of  the  coupons,  and  paid  by  a 
mandamus  of  the  Supreme  Court.  The  validity  of  these 
bonds  has  never  been  questioned  ;  and  they  must  not  be 


MR.   PEABODY  IN  AMERICA.  159 

confounded  with  another  issue  of  bonds  made  by  the  State 
to  the  Union  Bank,  the  recognition  of  which  has  been  a 
subject  of  controversy  with  a  portion  of  the  population  of 
Mississippi. 

"  Various  acts  of  the  Legislature,  viz.  of  Feb.  28,  1842, 
Feb.  23,  1844,  Feb.  16,  1846,  Feb.  28,  1846,  March  4, 
1848,  and  the  highest  judicial  tribunal  of  the  State,  have 
confirmed  their  validity ;  and  I  have  no  doubt,  that,  at  an 
early  day,  such  legislation  will  be  had  as  to  make  these 
bonds  available  in  increasing  the  usefulness  of  the  present 
trust. 

"  Mississippi,  though  now  depressed,  is  rich  in  agricul- 
tural resources,  and  cannot  long  disregard  the  moral 
obligation  resting  upon  her  to  make  provision  for  their 
payment.  In  confirmation  of  what  I  have  said  in  regard 
to  the  legislative  and  judicial  action  concerning  the  State 
bonds  issued  to  the  Planters'  Bank,  I  herewith  place  in 
your  hands  the  documents  marked  '  A.' 

"  The  details  and  organization  of  the  trust  I  leave  with 
you  ;  only  requesting  that  Mr.  Winthrop  may  be  chairman, 
and  Gov.  Fish  and  Bishop  Mcllvaine  vice-chairmen,  of 
your  body :  and  I  give  to  you  power  to  make  all  necessary 
by-laws  and  regulations  ;  to  obtain  an  act  of  incorporation, 
if  any  shall  be  found  expedient ;  to  provide  for  the  expenses 
of  the  trustees,  and  of  any  agents  appointed  by  them  ;  and, 
generally,  to  do  all  such  acts  as  may  be  necessary  for  carry- 
ing out  the  provisions  of  this  trust. 

"  All  vacancies  occurring  in  your  number  by  death,  res- 


160  THE  LIFE   OF   GEORGE  PEABODY. 

ignation,  or  otherwise,  shall  be  filled  by  your  election,  as 
soon  as  conveniently  may  be,  and  having  in  view  an 
equality  of  representation  so  far  as  regards  the  Northern 
and  Southern  States. 

"  I  furthermore  give  to  you  the  power,  in  case  two- 
thirds  of  the  trustees  shall,  at  any  time  after  the  lapse  of 
thirty  years,  deem  it  expedient  to  close  this  trust,  and  of 
the  funds  which  at  that  time  shall  be  in  the  hands  of  your- 
selves and  your  successors,  to  distribute  not  legs  than  two- 
thirds  among  such  educational  or  literary  institutions,  or  for 
such  educational  purposes,  as  they  may  determine,  in  the 
States  for  whose  benefit  the  income  is  now  appointed  to  be 
used.  The  remainder  may  be  distributed  by  the  trustees 
for  educational  or  literary  purposes,  wherever  they  may 
deem  it  expedient. 

"  In  making  this  gift,  I  am  aware  that  the  fund  derived 
from  it  can  but  aid  the  States  which  I  wish  to  benefit  in 
their  own  exertions  to  diffuse  the  blessings  of  education 
and  morality ;  but  if  this  endowment  should  encourage 
those  now  anxious  for  the  light  of  knowledge,  and  stimu- 
late to  new  efforts  the  many  good  and  noble  men  who 
cherish  the  high  purpose  of  placing  our  great  country  fore- 
most, not  only  in  power,  but  in  the  intelligence  and  virtue 
of  her  citizens,  it  will  have  accomplished  all  that  I  can 
hope. 

"  With  reverent  recognition  of  the  need  of  the  blessing 
of  Almighty  God  upon  this  gift,  and  with  the  fervent  prayer, 
that,  under  his  guidance,  your  counsels  may  be  directed 


MR.   PEABODY  IN  AMERICA.  161 

for  the  highest  good  of  present  and  future  generations  in 
our  beloved  country,  I  am,  gentlemen,  with  great  respect, 
"  Your  humble  servant, 

"  George  Peabody." 

"  The  Boston  Journal "  states,  that  at  the  annual  meet- 
ing of  the  trustees  of  this  fund,  held  in  Washington  on  the 
15th  of  February,  1870,  Hon.  Robert  C.  Winthrop  opened 
the  meeting  by  an  address,  in  which  he  made  appropriate 
mention  of  the  great  loss  they  had  sustained  by  the  death 
of  the  founder  of  the  fund.  He  also  paid  a  high  compli- 
ment to  Dr.  Sears,  the  general  agent  of  the  board,  and 
stated  that  the  work  which  Dr.  Sears  had  performed  met 
with  the  cordial  approbation  .of  Mr.  Peabody.  Mr.  Win- 
throp made  the  following  interesting  remarks  :  — 

"  You  all  remember,  that,  on  the  first  day  of  July  last, 
our  board  held  a  special  meeting  at  Newport,  R.I.,  at  the 
immediate  request  of  Mr.  Peabody.  He  had  informed  me 
confidentially,  before  I  took  leave  of  him  in  London  in  the 
previous  summer,  that  he  intended  to  visit  his  native  coun- 
try again,  God  willing,  during  the  present  year ;  and  that 
he  should  then  make  a  considerable  addition  to  our  fund. 
He  was  then  strong  and  hopeful,  and  had  great  confidence 
that  he  might  live  at  least  ten  years  longer.  But  his 
health  soon  afterwards  began  to  decline  ;  and,  as  the  next 
spring  opened,  he  was  led  to  entertain  serious  apprehen- 
sions that  he  might  not  live  even  until  another  year.  Af- 
ter a  careful  consultation  with  his  medical  advisers,  he 
li 


162  THE  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  PEABODY. 

suddenly  resolved  to  come  over  at  once  and  complete  his 
designs. 

"  On  the  very  day  of  his  arrival  in  Boston,  he  informed 
Dr.  Sears,  Gov.  Clifford,  and  myself,  who  had  met  him  at 
the  station,  and  accompanied  him  to  the  hospitable  home 
of  his  friend  Mr.  Dana,  that  the  first  desire  of  his  heart, 
and  that  which  he  had  crossed  the  Atlantic  especially  to 
gratify,  was  to  meet  our  board  once  more,  and  to  increase 
our  means  for  carrying  on  the  great  work  in  which  we 
were  engaged.  He  met  us,  accordingly,  at  Newport,  and 
added  a  second  million  of  dollars  to  our  cash  capital,  be- 
sides adding  largely  to  the  deferred  securities  which  he 
had  included  in  the  original  donation ;  all  of  which  he  had 
the  fullest  faith  would,  at  no  very  distant  day,  become 
productive. 

"  In  the  letter  addressed  to  us,  communicating  this  sec- 
ond princely  gift,  he  used  the  following  language  :  — 

" '  I  have  constantly  watched,  with  great  interest  and 
careful  attention,  the  proceedings  of  your  board;  and  it  is 
most  gratifying  to  me  now  to  be  able  to  express  my  warm- 
est thanks  for  the  interest  and  zeal  you  have  manifested  in 
maturing  and  carrying  out  the  designs  of  my  letter  of 
trust,  and  to  assure  you  of  my  cordial  concurrence  in  all 
the  steps  you  have  taken. 

" '  At  the  same  time,  I  must  not  omit  to  congratulate 
you,  and  all  who  have  at  heart  the  best  interests  of  this 
educational  enterprise,  upon  your  obtaining  the  highly 
valuable  services  of  Dr.  Sears  as  your  general  agent, — 


MB.    PEABODY   IN  AMERICA.  163 

services  valuable,  not  merely  in  the  organization  of  schools 
and  of  a  system  of  public  education,  but  in  the  good  effect 
which  his  conciliatory  and  sympathizing  course  has  had, 
wherever  he  has  met  or  become  associated  with  the  com- 
munities of  the  South  in  social  or  business  relations. 

" '  And  I  beg  to  take  this  opportunity  of  thanking,  with 
all  my  heart,  the  people  of  the  South  themselves,  for  the 
cordial  spirit  with  which  they  have  received  the  trust,  and 
for  the  energetic  efforts  which  they  have  made,  in  co-oper- 
ation with  yourselves  and  Dr.  Sears,  for  carrying  out  the 
plans  which  have  been  proposed  and  matured  for  the  diffu- 
sion of  the  blessings  of  education  in  their  respective 
States.' 

"  This  letter  of  Mr.  Peabody  concluded  as  follows  :  — 
"  i  I  do  this  with  the  earnest  hope,  and  in  the  sincere 
trust,  that  with.  God's  blessing  upon  the  gift,  and  upon  the 
deliberations  and  future  action  of  yourselves  and  your  gen- 
eral agent,  it  may  enlarge  the  sphere  of  usefulness  already 
entered  upon,  and  prove  a  permanent  and  lasting  boon, 
not  only  to  the  Southern  States,  but  to  the  whole  of  our 
dear  country,  which  I  have  ever  loved  so  well,  but  never 
so  much  as  now  in  my  declining  years,  and  at  this  time 
(probably  the  last  occasion  I  shall  ever  have  to  address 
you),  as  I  look  back  over  the  changes  and  the  progress  of 
nearly  three-quarters  of  a  century ;  and  I  pray  that  Al- 
mighty God  will  grant  to  it  a  future  as  happy  and  noble, 
in  the  intelligence  and  virtues  of  its  citizens,  as  it  will  be 
glorious  in  unexampled  power  and  prosperity.'     This  sec- 


164  THE  LIFE   OF   GEORGE   PEABODY. 

ond  letter  has,  indeed,  proved  to  be,  as  lie  himself  antici- 
pated, his  last  letter  to  this  board." 

The  publishing-houses  of  D.  Appleton  &  Co.  and  of 
A.  S.  Barnes  &  Co.  evinced  their  appreciation  of  Mr. 
Peabody's  gift  to  the  South,  —  the  former  by  a  donation 
of  a  hundred  thousand  volumes  of  school-books,  and  the 
latter  by  a  gift  of  five  thousand  volumes  of  "  The  Teach- 
ers' Library  "  and  twenty-five  thousand  school-books. 

The  Rev.  Dr.  Barnas  Sears,  late  President  of  Brown 
University,  has  accepted  the  post  of  general  agent ;  and 
the  generous  gift  of  Mr.  Peabody,  under  his  judicious 
administration,  will  doubtless  prove  a  great  benefit  to  the 
South. 


CHAPTER    XI. 


MORE    GIFTS    FOR   SCIENCE. 


Money  for  Museums  at  Yale  and  Harvard.  —  Correspondence  in  Keference 
to  these  Donations.  —  The  Value  of  the  Gift. 

"  Walk 
Boldly  and  wisely  in  that  light  thou  hast : 
There  ia  a  Hand  above  will  help  thee  on."  —  Bailey's  Festus. 

"  The  lips  of  knowledge  are  a  precious  jewel." — Prov.  xx.  15. 

jHILE  Mr.  Peabody  founded  institutions  bear- 
ing his  name  in  his  native  town  and  in  the 
cities  of  his  adoption,  he  was  not  unwilling  to 
add  to  the  influence  of  institutions  already  es- 
tablished in  the  land  of  his  birth.  Gratitude  and  courtesy 
sometimes  led  those  ancient  institutions  to  compliment  the 
donor  by  calling  some  branch  of  their  organization  after 
his  name.  In  that  way  Yale  College  honored  him,  and 
showed  its  gratitude  by  giving  his  name  to  a  museum. 

The  second  annual  report  of  the  Sheffield  Scientific 
School  of  that  college,  in  18G6-67,  contains  the  following 
statements  in  regard  to  the  generous  gift :  — 

"  It  is  already  well  known  that  George  Peabody,  Esq., 

165 


166  THE   LIFE   OF   GEORGE   PEABODY. 

of  London,  in  October  last,  made  the  generous  donation  of 
a  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars,  to  found,  '"in  con- 
nection with  Yale  College,'  a  museum  of  natural  history. 
Although  this  munificent  gift  is  designed  to  benefit  all  de- 
partments of  the  university,  it  will  obviously  and  necessa- 
rily be  of  more  immediate  advantage  to  the  students  -of 
natural  science  connected  with  this  school ;  and  hence  the 
donor's  letter  to  his  trustees,  and  the  accompanying  instru- 
ment of  gift,  may  be  fitly  given  here. 

MR.    PEABODY'S   LETTER. 

"  <  New  York,  Oct.  22,  1866. 
" «  To  Prof.  James  D.  Dana,  Hon.  James  Dixon,  Hon.  Robert  C.  Win- 
throp,  Prof.  Benjamin  Silliman,  Prof.  George  J.  Brush,  Prof.  Oth- 
niel  C.  Marsh,  and  George  Peabody  Wetmore,  Esq. 

"*  Gentlemen,  —  "With  this  letter  I  enclose  an  instru- 
ment giving  to  you  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars 
($150,000),  in  trust,  for  the  foundation  and  maintenance 
of  a  museum  of  natural  history,  especially  of  the  depart- 
ments of  zoology,  geology,  and  mineralogy,  in  connection 
wTith  Yale  College. 

"  '  I  some  years  ago  expressed  my  intention  of  making 
a  donation  to  this  distinguished  institution ;  and  convinced 
as  I  am  of  the  importance  of  the  natural  sciences,  and  of 
the  increasing  interest  taken  in  their  study,  it  now  affords 
me  great  pleasure  to  aid  in  advancing  these  departments 
of  knowledge. 

" '  The   rapid  advance  which   natural   science   is  now 


MORE   GIFTS   FOR   SCIENCE.  1G7 

making  renders  it  necessary  to  provide  for  the  future 
requirements  of  such  a  museum,  as  well  as  its  present 
wants ;  and  I  trust  that  the  portion  of  the  fund  designed 
for  this  purpose  will  be  found  sufficient. 

"  '  On  learning  of  your  acceptance  of  this  trust,  and  of 
the  assent  of  the  President  and  Fellows  of  Yale  College 
to  its  conditions,  I  shall  be  prepared  to  pay  over  to  you 
the  sum  I  have  named ;  and  I  may  then  have  some  addi- 
tional suggestions  to  make  in  regard  to  the  general 
management  of  the  trust.  Confident  that  under  your 
direction  this  trust  will  be  faithfully  and  successfully 
administered, 

"  '  I  am,  with  great  respect,  your  obedient  servant, 

"  '  George  Peabody.'  " 

the  instrument  of  gift. 

"  'I  hereby  give  to  James  Dwight  Dana  of  New  Ha- 
ven, Conn.,  James  Dixon  of  Hartford,  Conn.,  Robert  C. 
Winthrop  of  Boston,  Mass.,  Benjamin  Silliman  of  New 
Haven,  Conn.,  George  Jarvis  Brush  of  New  Haven, 
Conn.,  Othniel  Charles  Marsh  of  New  Haven,  Conn., 
and  George  Peabody  Wetmore  of  Newport,  R.I.,  on  his 
attaining  his  majority,  the  sum  of  one  hundred  and  fifty 
thousand  dollars,  to  be  by  them  or  their  successors  held 
in  trust,  to  found  and  maintain  a  museum  of  natural  his- 
tory, especially  of  the  departments  of  zoology,  geology, 
and  mineralogy,  in  connection  with  Yale 'College,  in  the 
city  of  New  Haven,  State  of  Connecticut. 


168  THE  LIFE   OF  GEORGE  PEABODY. 

" '  Of  this  sum,  I  direct  that  my  said  trustees  devote  a 
part  —  not  to  exceed  one  hundred  thousand  dollars — to  the 
erection,  upon  land  to  be  given  for  that  purpose,  free  of 
cost  or  rental,  by  the  President  and  Fellows  of  Yale  Col- 
lege,, in  New  Haven,  of  a  fire-proof  museum-building, 
adapted  to  the  present  requirements  of  these  three  depart- 
ments of  science,  but  planned  with  especial  reference  to  its 
subsequent  enlargement ;  the  building,  when  completed, 
to  become  the  property  of  said  college  for  the  uses  of  this 
trust,  and  none  other. 

" '  I  further  direct  that  the  sum  of  twenty  thousand  dol- 
lars be  invested,  and  accumulate  as  a  building-fund,  until 
it  shall  amount  to  at  least  one  hundred  thousand  dollars, 
when  it  may  be  employed  by  my  said  trustees,  or  their 
successors,  in  the  erection  of  one  or  more  additions  to  the 
museum-building,  or  in  its  final  completion  ;  the  land  for 
the  same  also  to  be  provided,  free  of  cost  or  rental,  by  the 
President  and  Fellows  of  Yale  College,  in  New  Haven ; 
and  the  entire  structure,  when  completed,  to  be  the  property 
of  Yale  College,  for  the  uses  of  this  trust,  and  none  other. 

" '  I  further  direct  that  thirty  thousand  dollars,  the 
remaining  portion  of  this  donation,  be  invested,  and  the  « 
income  from  it  be  expended  by  my  said  trustees,  or  their 
successors,  for  the  care  of  the  museum,  increase  of  its  col- 
lections, and  general  interests  of  the  departments  of  sci- 
ence already  named ;  the  part  of  the  income  remaining, 
after  providing  for  the  general  care  of  the  museum,  to  be 
apportioned  in  the  following  manner,  —  three-sevenths  to 


MORE   GIFTS  FOB  SCIENCE.  169 

zoology,  three-sevenths  to  geology,  and  one-seventh  to 
mineralogy  ;  the  said  collections,  as  well  as  the  museum- 
building,  to  be  exclusively  for  the  benefit  of  the  various 
departments  of  said  college. 

"  4  The  board  of  trustees  I  have  thus  constituted  shall 
always  be  composed  of  seven  persons,  of  whom  not  more 
than  four  shall  at  any  one  time  be  members  of  the  Faculty 
of  Yale  College.  They  shall  have  the  general  manage- 
ment of  the  museum,  keep  a  record  of  their  doings,  and 
annually  prepare  a  report  setting  forth  the  condition  of  the 
trust  and  funds,  and  the  amount  of  income  received  and 
paid  out  by  them  during  the  previous  year.  This  report, 
signed  by  the  trustees,  shall  be  presented  to  the  President 
and  Fellows  of  Yale  College,  in  New  Haven,  at  their  an- 
nual summer  session,  and  be  by  them  filed  in  the  archives 
of  said  college. 

" i  In  the  event  of  the  death  or  resignation  of  either  of 
my  said  trustees,  I  direct  that  his  successor  be  the  Gov- 
ernor of  Connecticut,  who,  ex  officio,  shall  forever  after- 
ward be  a  member  of  the  board.  Any  other  vacancy  that 
may  occur  in  the  board  of  trustees,  either  by  resignation 
or  by  death,  shall  be  filled  by  the  remaining  trustees  within 
a  reasonable  time  after  such  vacancy  shall  have  occurred. 

"  c  I  give  to  my  said  trustees  and  their  successors  the 
liberty  to  appoint  a  treasurer,  and  to  enter  into  any  agree- 
ments with  the  President  and  Fellows  of  Yale  Colleo-e, 
not  inconsistent  with  the  terms  of  this  trust,  which  may  in 
their  opinion  be  expedient.  "  '  George  Peabody. 

" '  New  York,  Oct.  22,  1866.' 


170  THE  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  PEABODY. 

"  This  generous  donation  provides  for  one  great  and 
pressing  want  of  the  university,  —  a  fire-proof  museum- 
building  for  preserving  the  extensive  and  valuable  col- 
lections which  have  been  accumulating  during  the  last 
half-century,  and  are  now  rapidly  increasing.  It  is  under- 
stood to  be  the  intention  of  the  trustees  to  commence  the 
erection  of  the  first  wing  of  the  museum  at  an  early  day. 
When  completed,  this  part  will,  it  is  thought,  be  amply 
sufficient  for  the  requirements  of  the  immediate  future,  or 
until  the  reserved  building-fund  shall  have  increased  suffi- 
ciently to  provide  for  the  erection  of  the  main  or  central 
building ;  and  this,  in  turn,  will  serve  until  the  completion 
of  the  whole  structure. 

"  Students  of  natural  history  in  all  departments  of  Yale 
College,  and  in  all  time  to  come,  will  be  grateful  to  Mr. 
Peabody  for  thus  rendering  secure  the  collection  and  pres- 
ervation of  such  a  museum  as  the  institution  has  long  been 
in  need  of." 

In  October,  1866,  Mr.  Peabody  testified  his  regard  for 
the  oldest  college  in  his  native  land  by  giving  Harvard  a 
sum  of  money  for  a  museum,  which  is  now  known  by  his 
name.     His  letter  and  instrument  of  gift  are  as  follows  :  — 

"  Georgetown,  Oct.  8,  18GG. 
"  To  the  Hon.  Robert  C.  Winthrop,  His  Excellency  Charles  Francis 
Adams,  Francis  Peabody,  Stephen   Salisbury,  Asa  Gray,  Jeffries 
Wynian,  and  George  Peabody  Russell,  Esquires. 

"  Gentlemen,  —  Accompanying  this  letter,  I  enclose  an 


MORE   GIFTS  FOR   SCIENCE.  171 

instrument  giving  to  you  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand 
dollars  ($150,000),  in  trust,  for  the  foundation  and 
maintenance  of  a  museum  and  professorship  of  American 
archaeology  and  ethnology  in  connection  with  Harvard 
University. 

"  I  have  for  some  years  had  the  purpose  of  contributing, 
as  I  might  find  opportunity,  to  extend  the  usefulness  of 
the  honored  and  ancient  university  of  our  Commonwealth  ; 
and  I  trust,  that  in  view  of  the  importance  and  national 
character  of  the  proposed  department,  and  its  interesting 
relations  to  kindred  investigations  in  other  countries,  the 
means  I  have  chosen  may  prove  acceptable. 

"On  learning  of  your  acceptance  of  the  trust,  and  of 
the  assent  of  the  President  and  Fellows  of  Harvard  Col- 
lege to  its  terms,  I  shall  be  prepared  to  pay  over  to  you 
the  sum  I  have  named. 

"  Aside  from  the  provisions  of  the  instrument  of  gift,  I 
leave  in  your  hands  the  details  and  management  of  the 
trust ;  only  suggesting,  that,  in  view  of  the  gradual  oblit- 
eration or  destruction  of  the  works  and  remains  of  the 
ancient  races  of  this  continent,  the  labor  of  exploration 
and  collection  be  commenced  at  as  early  a  day  as  practi- 
cable ;  and  also,  that,  in  the  event  of  the  discovery  in 
America  of  human  remains  or  implements  of  an  earlier 
geological  period  than  the  present,  especial  attention  be 
given  to  their  study,  and  their  comparison  with  those  found 
in  other  countries. 

"  With  the  hope  that  the  museum,  as  thus  established 


172  THE   LIFE   OF   GEORGE   PEABODY. 

and  maintained,  may  be  instrumental  in  promoting  and 
extending  its  department  of  science,  and  with  fullest  confi- 
dence, that,  under  your  care,  the  best  means  will  be  adopted 
to  secure  the  end  desired, 

"  I  am,  with  great  respect,  your  humble  servant, 

"  George  Peabody." 

"  I  do  hereby  give  to  Robert  C.  Winthrop  of  Boston, 
Charles  Francis  Adams  of  Quincy,  Francis  Peabody  of 
Salem,  Stephen  Salisbury  of  Worcester,  Asa  Gray  of 
Cambridge,  Jeffries  Wyman  of  Cambridge,  and  George 
Peabody  Russell  of  Salem,  all  of  Massachusetts,  the  sum 
of  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars,  to  be  by  them  and 
their  successors  held  in  trust,  to  found  and  maintain  a  mu- 
seum of  American  archaeology  and  ethnology  in  connec- 
tion with  Harvard  University,  in  the  city  of  Cambridge, 
and  Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts. 

"  Of  this  sum  I  direct  that  my  said  trustees  shall  invest 
forty-five  thousand  dollars  as  a  fund,  the  income  of  which 
shall  be  applied  to  forming  and  preserving  collections  of 
antiquities,  and  objects  relating  to  the  early  races  of  the 
American  continent,  or  such  (including  such  books  and 
works  as  may  form  a  good  working  library  for  the  depart- 
ments of  science  indicated)  as  shall  be  requisite  for  the 
investigation  and  illustration  of  archaeology  and  ethnology 
in  general,  in  main  and  special  reference,  however,  to  the 
aboriginal  American  races. 

"  I  direct  that  the  income  of  the  further  sum  of  forty- 


MORE   GIFTS  FOR   SCIENCE.  173 

five  thousand  dollars  shall  be  applied  by  my  said  trustees 
to  the  establishment  and  maintenance  of  a  professorship  of 
American  archeology  and  ethnology  in  Harvard  Univer- 
sity. The  professor  shall  be  appointed  by  the  President 
and  Fellows  of  Harvard  College,  with  the  concurrence  of 
the  overseers,  in  the  same  manner  as  other  professors  are 
appointed,  but  upon  the  nomination  of  the  founder  or  the 
board  of  trustees.  He  shall  have  charge  of  the  above- 
mentioned  collections,  and  shall  deliver  one  or  more  courses 
of  lectures  annually,  under  the  direction  of  the  govern- 
ment of  the  university,  on  subjects .  connected  with  said 
departments  of  science. 

"  Until  this  professorship  is  filled,  or  during  the  time  it 
may  be  vacant,  the  income  from  the  fund  appropriated  to 
it  shall  be  devoted  to  the  care  and  increase  of  the  collec- 
tions. 

"  I  further  direct  that  the  remaining  sum  of  sixty 
thousand  dollars  be  invested  and  accumulated  as  a  build- 
ing-fund until  it  shall  amount  to  at  least  one  hundred 
thousand  dollars,  when  it  may  be  employed  in  the  erection 
of  a  suitable  fire-proof  museum-building,  upon  land  to  be 
given  for  that  purpose,  free  of  cost  or  rental,  by  the  Presi- 
dent and  Fellows  of  Harvard  College :  the  building,  when 
completed,  to  become  the  property  of  the  college,  for  the 
uses  of  this  trust,  and  none  other. 

"  The  board  of  trustees  I  have  thus  constituted  shall 
always  be  composed  of  seven  persons :  and  it  is  my  wish 
that  the  office  of  chairman  be  filled  by  Mr.  Winthrop  ;  in 


174  THE  LIFE  OF   GEORGE   PEABODY. 

the  event  of  his  death  or  resignation,  by  Mr.  Adams ;  and 
so  successively  in  the  order  I  have  named  above.  The 
trustees  shall  keep  a  record  of  their  doings,  and  shall  an- 
nually prepare  a  report,  setting  forth  the  condition  of  the 
trust  and  funds,  and  the  amount  of  income  received  and 
paid  out  by  them  during  the  previous  year.  This  report, 
signed  by  the  trustees,  shall  be  presented  to  the  President 
and  Fellows  of  the  college. 

"  In  the  event  of  the  death  or  resignation  of  Mr.  Win- 
throp,  I  direct  that  the  vacancy  in  the  number  of  the  board 
be  filled  by  the  President  of  the  Massachusetts  Historical 
Society,  who,  ex  officio,  shall  forever  after  be  a  member  of 
the  board.  In  the  event  of  the  death  or  resignation  of 
Mr.  Peabody,  the  vacancy  to  be  filled  by  the  President 
of  the  scientific  body  now  established  in  the  city  of  Salem, 
under  the  name  of  the  Essex  Institute  ;  of  Mr.  Salisbury, 
by  the  President  of  the  American  Antiquarian  Society; 
of  Prof.  Gray,  by  the  President  of  the  American  Academy 
of  Arts  and  Sciences ;  and  of  Prof.  Wyman,  by  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  Boston  Society  of  Natural  History,  —  all  of 
whom  shall  forever  after  be,  ex  officio,  members  of  the 
board. 

"  Should  the  president  of  either  of  the  societies  I  have 
named  decline  to  act  as  a  trustee,  such  vacancy,  and  all 
other  vacancies  that  may  occur  in  the  number  of  the  trus- 
tees, shall  be  filled  by  the  remaining  trustees,  who  shall, 
within  a  reasonable  time,  make  the  appointment  or  appoint- 
ments. 


MORE   GIFTS   FOR   SCIENCE.  175 

"  I  give  to  my  said  trustees  the  liberty  to  obtain  from 
the  Legislature  an  act  of  incorporation,  if  they  deem  it 
desirable ;  to  make  all  necessary  by-laws ;  to  appoint  a 
treasurer ;  and  to  enter  into  any  arrangements  and  agree- 
ments with  the  government  of  Harvard  College,  not  in- 
consistent with  the  terms  of  this  trust,  which  may,  in  their 
opinion,  be  expedient. 

(Signed)  "  George  Peabody. 

"  Georgetown,  Oct.  8,  1866." 

Rev.  Dr.  Walker,  in  referring  to  this  munificence  of 
Mr.  Peabody,  and  the  fact  that  officers  of  Harvard  Col- 
lege and  officers  of  the  Massachusetts  Historical  Society 
were  to  be  also  trustees  of  the  Peabody  Museum,  said, 
"  Mr.  Peabody,  as  it  seems  to  me,  has  shown  great  wis- 
dom by  connecting  his  new  institution,  to  some  extent, 
with  two  of  the  oldest  of  these  societies ;  so  that,  hereafter, 
we  may  have  the  benefit  of  both  agencies,  acting  with 
more  effect  because  more  likely  to  act  in  harmony  and 
together  for  a  common  object." 

Rev.  E.  E.  Hale  then  remarked,  — 

"  I  should  not  venture  to  add  any  thing,  Mr.  President, 
to  what  has  been  so  fitly  said,  but  that  you  have  asked  me 
to  say  something  in  acknowledgment  of  so  great  a  gift  to 
science,  because,  in  some  sort,  I  represent  here  the  gov- 
ernment of  the  American  Antiquarian  Society.  In  the 
establishment    of    the    proposed    museum,    and    of    the 


176  THE   LIFE  OP   GEORGE   PEABODY. 

professorship  connected  with  it,  under  Mr.  Peabody's 
munificent  endowment,  the  Antiquarian  Society  saw  the 
fulfilment  of  a  cherished  wish  which  it  had  entertained 
for  half  a  century ;  and  its  government  is  confident,  that, 
in  the  administration  of  this  endowment,  the  studies  of 
the  American  antiquary  would  be  redeemed  from  any 
unfair  suspicion  which  has  considered  them  petty,  or 
unworthy  of  profound  scientific  attention. 

"  Have  we  not  been  somewhat  disposed  to  think  that 
these  arrow-points  and  pestles  and  stone  axe-heads,  such  as 
I  have  brought  down  stairs  from  our  own  collection,  were 
hardly  worth  a  place  in  our  museum  ?  Or,  if  any 
explorer  southward  or  westward  brought  us  his  contribu- 
tions of  the  work  of  our  own  native  tribes,  have  we  not 
been  apt  to  think  that  they  were  mere  curiosities,  with 
little  value  for  science  ?  Now,  in  the  recent  study  of  the 
antiquity  of  the  human  race,  these  very  illustrations  of 
what  has  been  called  the  Stone  Age  are  claiming  a  place 
of  the  very  first  importance  in  the  study  of  the  real 
primeval  history  of  the  world. 

"  And,  Mr.  President,  so  far  as  I  am  aware,  Mr.  Pea- 
body,  in  his  letter  of  gift,  is  the  first  person  who  has 
publicly  called  attention  to  the  invaluable  illustration 
which  the  antiquarian  study  of  this  country  will  thus 
give  to  this  new  science,  which  seeks  to  set  in  order 
the  social  progress  of  the  world,  —  its  moral  palaeon- 
tology, if  I  may  hazard  the  expression,  —  of  which  we 
here    can   illustrate   some   of   the   steps   far  better   than 


MORE   GIFTS  FOR   SCIENCE.  177 

they  can  be  illustrated  in  Europe.  The  little  specimens 
which  I  have  placed  on  the  table  —  some  of  them  the 
work  of  Nature,  and  some,  to  appearance  much  less  care- 
fully wrought,  the  undoubted  work  of  man  —  will  show 
how  difficult  it  is  for  an  untrained  observer  to  say  with 
certainty,  in  a  given  instance,  whether  a  relic  from  another 
age  is  or  is  not  a  memorial  of  human  art.  In  point  of 
fact,  the  tools  from  the  alluvium  of  the  Somme,  figured 
by  M.  Boucher  de  Perthes  in  his  '  Antiquites  Celtiques,' 
were  so  rudely  shaped,  that  many  persons  supposed  they 
were  stones  which  owed  their  peculiar  forms  to  accidental 
fracture  in  a  river's  bed.  In  such  ways  the  whole  series 
of  questions  connected  with  the  memorials  of  the  stone 
age  discovered  in  Europe  have  been  embarrassed,  from  > 
the  fact  that  the  scientific  men  of  Europe,  in  studying 
that  age,  with  them  so  distant,  have  been  obliged  to  con- 
struct their  theories  simply  from  the  handful  of  specimens 
preserved  through  so  many  intervening  ages,  —  materials 
which  were  themselves  the  material  under  discussion. 
We  here,  however,  have  the  stone  age  at  hand :  we  can 
match  these  arrow-points  and  axe-heads  from  our  own 
collections  of  thousands  of  such  articles,  —  the  work  of  a 
race  not  yet  passed  away.  If  we  wish,  we  can  question 
the  men  who  have  used  them;  nay,  can  see  them  as 
they  make  them.  And  here  is  one  more  instance  to  be 
added  to  so  many  which  are  successively  forced  upon 
us,  which  show  that  our  antiquarian  studies  are,  in  fact, 
not  the  baby-talk  of  the  infants  of  a  new  world,  but  are 
12 


178  THE  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  PEABODY. 

studies  relating  to  the  very  oldest  world,  and,  indeed,  to 
the  very  foundation  of  social  order. 

"  You  remember,  Mr.  President,  how  often  Mr.  Agas- 
siz  dwells  upon  the  fact,  that,  when  it  pleased  God  to 
divide  the  land  from  the  water,  —  when  '  fields  grew 
green,'  where  for  thousands  of  years  '  oceans  only  had 
gathered,' — the  first  beach  which  rose  above  the  icy 
waves  was  the  strip  of  land  which  Mr.  Agassiz  calls  '  the 
Laurentian  Hills.'  It  is  the  strip  which  we  have  all 
heard  described  so  many  times  —  and  in  the  language  of 
geology  also  —  as  '  the  highlands  dividing  the  waters  of 
the  St.  Lawrence  from  the  waters  of  the  Atlantic'  That 
was  the  phrase  used  by  Adams  and  Franklin  in  our  first 
treaty  with  England;  and  the  commissioners  chose  that 
oldest  ridge  of  land  to  be  the  eternal  division  between  the 
two  countries  which  were  just  then  parted.  All  of  us 
have  noticed  the  curious  revelation  of  recent  science, 
which  has  pointed  out  the  fact,  that  this  region,  made  so 
familiar  to  us  in  the  struggles  of  diplomacy,  should  prove 
to  be  really  a  landmark  so  ancient.  Now,  with  every 
fresh  revelation  of  science,  sir,  we  are  seeing  more  dis- 
tinctly that  the  studies  of  this  older  continent  are  in  every 
way  essential  to  the  studies  of  our  younger  sister  continent 
on  the  other  side  of  the  ocean. 

"It  seems  to  me  a  very  striking  illustration  of  the 
comprehensive  views  of  Mr.  Peabody,  that,  while  he  was 
engaged  in  that  work  for  the  world  to  which  a  great  mer- 
chant is  called,  he  should  have  perceived  the  intimacy  of 


MORE   GIFTS  FOR  SCIENCE.  179 

the  connection  between  the  antiquarian  study  of  this 
country  and  what  I  have  a  right  to  call  the  newly-created 
antiquarian  science  of  Europe.  These  views  of  the 
antiquity  of  man,  in  which  Professor  Lyell  has  excited 
such  wide  popular  interest,  are  but  just  now  announced 
to  the  European  world.  Mr.  Peabody  has  instantly  seized 
on  the  fact,  that,  in  this  older  world,  we  have  peculiar 
advantages  for  illustrating  them.  Deeply  interested  him- 
self in  the  new  studies  by  which  the  geologists  of  Europe 
are  illustrating  the  antiquity  of  the  race,  he  has  seen  that 
we  have  here  peculiar  opportunity  for  contributing  to 
those  studies  facts  of  great  interest,  and  observations 
impossible  excepting  where  the  forms  of  the  oldest  social 
order  may  be  studied  while  still  alive.  Observing  this, 
with  the  most  liberal  endowment  he  creates  the  new 
institution  which  is  to  preserve  the  memorials  and  give 
persistency  to  the  studies  which  are  necessary  in  the 
illustration. 

"  I  hold  in  my  hand,  and  should  gladly  read  here  if  I 
had  not  occupied  so  much  of  the  society's  time,  a  letter 
from  Mr.  Abbott  Lawrence,  written  when  he  was  our 
minister  in  England,  acknowledging  in  the  most  cordial 
way  the  important  services  which  Mr.  Peabody  again  and 
again  rendered  in  preserving  a  kindly  feeling  between 
America  and  England.  He  seems  to  have  consecrated 
the  immense  influence  which  he  has  so  worthily  acquired 
to  those  friendly  offices  which  best  unite  two  lands  that 
should  be  parted  only  by  the  ocean.     The  last  great  ser- 


180  THE  LIFE   OF  GEORGE  PEABODY. 

vice  we  acknowledge  to-day,  in  which  Mr.  Peabody  shows 
us  how  the  antiquarian  science  of  each  continent  may 
contribute  to  that  of  the  other ;  how  essential,  indeed,  for 
the  deepest  research  of  each  continent,  is  the  kindred 
research,  which,  at  the  same  moment,  presses  its  inquiries 
in  the  other,  —  this  last  great  service  fitly  illustrates  that 
work  of  mediation  and  good  feeling  to  which  this  distin- 
guished man  has  so  successfully  devoted  the  efforts  of  his 
life." 

The  value  of  Mr.  Peabody's  gift  will  be  best  appre- 
ciated by  those  interested  in  the  objects  of  the  museum ; 
and,  that  these  may  be  better  understood,  the  circular 
stating  their  wants  and  wishes  is  here  given  :  — - 

"  PEABODY    MUSEUM    OF    AMERICAN    ARCHAEOLOGY    AND 
ETHNOLOGY. 

"  Through  the  munificence  of  Mr.  George  Peabody 
of  London,  a  museum  of  American  archaeology  and  eth- 
nology has  been  established  in  connection  with  Harvard 
College.  In  carrying  out  the  wishes  of  the  founder,  it  is 
intended  to  bring  together  all  objects  illustrative  of  or 
bearing  upon  the  origin,  early  history,  manners  and  cus- 
toms, and  progress  towards  civilization,  of  the  aboriginal 
races  of  North  and  South  America.  In  furthering  the 
objects  of  the  above  foundation,  the  undersigned,  the 
executive  committee,  in  behalf  of  the  board  of  trustees, 
are  desirous  of  obtaining  any  of  the  following  articles  :  — 


MORE   GIFTS  FOR   SCIENCE.  181 

"  1.  Implements  of  stone,  such  as  axes,  gouges,  chisels, 
clubs,  pestles,  sinkers,  tomahawks,  mortars,  arrow-heads, 
spear-heads,  &c. 

"  2.  Articles  of  earthenware,  such  as  vases,  pots,  pipes, 
bowls,  or  images  of  any  kind. 

"  3.  Bows,  arrows,  quivers,  spears,  rattles,  drums, 
shields,  snow-shoes,  knives,  lodges,  medicine-bags,  tobacco- 
pouches,  cooking-utensils,  articles  of  dress,  either  of  purely 
aboriginal  make,  or  such  as  show  the  gradual  contact  of 
the  savage  and  European  races. 

"  4.  Mummies,  skeletons,  or  parts  of  skeletons,  of  any 
of  the  North  or  South  American  races.  Of  the  parts  of 
skeletons,  the  skulls  are  always  of  great  importance ;  and 
the  long  bones  of  the  limbs,  and  the  hip-bones,  are  of 
much  value. 

"  5.  Antiquities,  in  the  form  of  images  or  other  sculp- 
tures, or  the  casts  of  them,  from  Peru,  Mexico,  Chili,  or 
Central  America. 

"  6.  Any  articles  made  by  or  relating  to  the  Esqui- 
maux, and  the  Fuegians,  or  the  Patagonians. 

44  It  is  within  the  plan  of  the  founder  to  make  collec- 
tions relating  to  the  archaeology  and  ethnology  of  other 
aboriginal  races,  especially  of  such  articles  as  have  a  bear- 
ing upon,  or  help  to  illustrate  the  history  of,  the  American 
races.  The  trustees  are,  therefore,  desirous  of  obtaining 
crania,  skeletons  or  parts  of  skeletons,  weapons  and 
implements  of  all  kinds,  pottery,  or  any  other  articles  of 
aboriginal  make,   from    any  portion    of   the  world ;    also 


182  THE  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  PEABODY. 

drawings  or  casts  of  them  which  may  serve  to  show  the 
differences  or  resemblances  between  the  various  human 
races  in  their  earliest  stages  of  existence. 

"Robert  C.  Winthrop,! 

ASA   GRAY,  [Executive 

'  j  Committee. 

Jeffries  Wyman,  J 


CHAPTER    XII. 

STILL   HELPING   EDUCATORS. 

Peabody  Academy  of  Science  in   Salem. — Essex  Institute. — Mr.  Pea- 
body's  Letter.  —  His  Love  for  his  native  County  of  Essex. 

"  Some  there  are 
By  their  good  deeds  exalted,  lofty  minds, 
And  meditative  authors  of  delight 
And  happiness,  which,  to  the  end  of  time, 
Will  live  and  spread  and  flourish."  —Words-worth. 

"  Receive  my  instruction,  and  not  silver;  and  knowledge  rather  than  choice  gold. 
For  wisdom  is  better  than  rubies ;  and  all  the  things  that  may  he  desired  are  not  to 
be  compared  to  it."— Prov.  viii.  10,  11. 

>S  intimated  in  the  Preface,  George  Peabody 
was  not  forgetful  of  the  Essex  Institute  in 
Salem.  With  his  usual  liberality,  he  bestowed 
a  large  sum  upon  those  banded  together  in 
Essex  County  for  historical  and  scientific  purposes,  and 
founded,  in  connection  with  the  Essex  Institute,  whose 
library,  museum,  and  officers  were  in  Salem,  an  Acad- 
emy of  Science,  so  called,  to  be  known  henceforth  by  his 
name.  The  following  characteristic  letter  accompanied 
his  gift :  — 

183 


184  THE   LIFE   OF   GEORGE   PEABODY. 

"'Salem,  Mass.,  Feb.  26,  1867. 

"  To  Francis  Peabody,  Esq.,  Prof.  Asa  Gray,  William  C.  Endicott, 
Esq.,  George  Peabody  Russell,  Esq.,  Prof.  Othniel  C.  Marsh, 
Dr.  Henry  Wheatland,  Abner  C.  Goodell,  jun.,  Esq.,  Dr.  James 
R.  Nichols,  and  Dr.  Henry  C.  Perkins. 

"Gentlemen, —  As  you  will  perceive  by  the  enclosed 
instrument  of  trust,  I  wish  to  place  in  the  hands  of  your- 
selves and  your  successors  the  sum  of  one  hundred  and 
forty  thousand  dollars  for  the  promotion  of  science  and 
useful  knowledge  in  the  county  of  Essex. 

"  Of  this,  my  native  county,  I  have  always  been  justly 
proud,  in  common  with  all  her  sons  ;  remembering  her 
ancient  reputation,  her  many  illustrious  statesmen,  jurists, 
and  men  of  science,  her  distinguished  record  from  the 
earliest  days  of  our  country's  history,  and  the  distinction 
so  long  retained  by  her,  as  eminent  in  the  education  and 
morality  of  her  citizens. 

"I  am  desirous  of  assisting  to  perpetuate  her  good 
name  through  future  generations,  and  of  aiding,  through 
her  means,  in  the  diffusion  of  science  and  knowledge; 
and  after  consultation  with  some  of  her  most  eminent 
and  worthy  citizens,  and  encouraged  by  the  success  which 
has  already  attended  the  efforts  and  researches  of  the 
distinguished  scientific  association  of  which  your  chair- 
man is  president,  and  with  which  most  of  you  are  con- 
nected, I  am  led  to  hope  that  this  gift  may  be  instrumental 
in  attaining  the  desired  end. 

"I  therefore  transmit  to  you  the  enclosed  instrument, 


STILL   HELPING  EDUCATORS.  185 

and  a  check  for  the  amount  therein  named  ($140,000), 
with  the  hope  that  this  trust,  as  administered  by  you  and 
your  successors,  may  tend  to  advancement  in  intelligence 
and  virtue,  not  only  in  our  good  old  county  of  Essex,  but 
in  our  commonwealth  and  in  our  common  country. 
"  I  am,  with  great  respect, 

"  Your  humble  servant, 

"  George  Peabody." 

During  the  session  of  the  American  Association  for  the 
Advancement  of  Science,  which  was  held  in  Salem,  Mass., 
in  the  summer  of  1869,  the  dedicatory  services  of  the 
Peabody  Academy  of  Science  were  held  in  the  Taberna- 
cle Church ;  the  building  owned  by  the  academy  being  too 
small  for  the  audience. 

According  to  "  The  Salem  Observer  "  of  ^  Aug.  14, 
1869,  "  The  exercises  were  opened  at  three  o'clock 
with  prayer  by  the  Rev.  C.  R.  Palmer,  pastor  of  the 
church;  which  was  followed  by  the  singing  of  a  hymn 
written  for  the  occasion  by  Rev.  Jones  Very,  and  which 
was  well  rendered  by  a  select  choir  from  the  Salem  Orato- 
rio Class.  The  dedicatory  address  was  then  delivered  by 
Mr.  Endicott ;  and  it  was  universally  regarded  as  a  very 
appropriate,  excellent,  and  eloquent  discourse.  Remarks 
were  afterwards  made  by  Ex-Gov.  Clifford,  Mayor  Coggs- 
well,  B.  H.  Silsbee,  Esq.,  of  the  Marine  Society,  Dr. 
Wheatland,  and  Pres.  Foster.  Benediction  by  Rev.  Mr. 
Willson." 


186  THE  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  PEABODY. 

The  address  of  the  mayor,  Gen.  William  Coggswell,  as 
reported  in  the  same  excellent  newspaper,  was  as  fol- 
lows :  — 

"  Mr.  President  and  Gentlemen,  —  I  know  that  I 
speak  the  sentiments  of  the  people  of  this  city  when  I 
congratulate  you,  sir,  and  your  associate  trustees,  upon 
the  successful  establishment  in  our  midst  of  the  Academy 
of  Science,  under  the  wise  and  beneficent  trust  of  that 
world-wide  benefactor  whose  name  stands  at  the  head  of 
your  institution. 

"  Though  your  labors  were  at  the  outset  clouded  and 
increased  by  the  great  loss  which  we  all  felt  here  in  the 
death  of  the  first  president  of  your  board,  yet  the  citizens 
of  this  place,  which  has  been  honored  by  the  location  of 
this  Academy,  though  its  purposes  are  to  be  devoted  to 
the  broader  field  of  the  whole  county  of  Essex,  have 
witnessed  with  pleasure  the  great  and  rapid  progress 
which  has  been  made  in  the  discharge  of  the  duties  of 
your  important  trust.  They  are  aware  of  the  vast 
amount  of  labor,  under  the  careful  and  able  supervision 
of  yourself  and  associates,  which  has  wrought  out  all  this. 
They  are  sensible  of  the  good  results  which  must  inevita- 
bly flow  therefrom  ;  and  therefore  it  is,  that,  with  honor 
and  with  pride,  they  feel  they  can  join  you  this  day  in  the 
dedication  of  the  Peabody  Academy  of  Science,  and  bid 
it,  as  they  do  now  bid  it,  All  hail,  welcome,  and  God 
speed  ! 


STILL  HELPING  EDUCATORS.  187 

"  Dedicated  to  the  cause  of  science,  —  that  cause  to 
which  all  look  for  truth,  instruction,  and  the  explanation 
of  the  hidden  mysteries  of  life  ;  through  which  we  learn  to 
understand  the  ways  of  Nature,  and  to  make  useful  all  the 
powers  which  God  has  given ;  from  which  we  learn  to 
read  aright  the  lessons  of  experience,  and  to  make  more 
perfect  the  labors  of  mankind ;  science,  which  leads,  not 
from,  but  to,  a  better,  higher,  nobler  appreciation  of  God 
and  his  infinity,  —  dedicated  to  this  great  study,  and  in  this 
presence  of  the  eminent  scholars  of  science  of  our  land, 
who  shall  attempt  to  set  forth  its  useful  results,  its  perfect 
work,  its  future,  or  its  effect  upon  the  important  study  to 
which  it  is  now  dedicated  and  set  apart?  Who  will  follow 
out  its  influences,  unbounded  and  without  a  limit  as  they 
will  be,  as  from  father  to  son,  from  generation  to  genera- 
tion, it  shall  send  forth  the  influence  and  energy  of  de- 
veloped truth  into  the  great  struggle  of  life  and  into  the 
current  of  the  great  river  of  knowledge  ? 

"  When  we  reflect  upon  the  immense  scope  of  its  study, 
—  touching  every  interest  and  inquiry  of  life  ;  sifting  and 
exposing  error ;  underlying  the  superstructure  of  govern- 
ment, of  life,  of  health,  of  knowledge,  and  of  wisdom ; 
opening  to  us  the  secrets  of  Nature  ;  bringing  us  all, 
whether  we  will  or  not,  up  to  a  higher,  broader,  better 
plane  of  existence  ;  leading  us  to  discard  error  and  preju- 
dice, and  to  adopt  the  truth ;  training  the  lightning  to  do 
its  bidding ;  exchanging,  as  it  does  this  day  exchange,  the 
thoughts  and  wishes   of  continents,  and   publishing  the 


188  THE  LIFE   OF  GEORGE  PEABODY. 

edicts  of  Nature  in  "  the  twinkling  of  an  eye;"  —  when 
we  call  to  mind  that  all  things  yield  up  their  secrets  to 
the  all-searching,  never-tiring  eye  of  the  man  of  science  ; 
when  we  consider  more  particularly  its  relation  to  the 
body  politic,  —  that  upon  it  government  must  depend 
alike  for  its  implements  of  war  and  its  arts  of  peace,  — 
railroads,  canals,  surveys,  harbor  -  improvements,  the 
census,  the  levying  of  tax,  finance,  the  waging  of  war, 
the  commerce  of  the  seas,  the  products  of  the  soil ;  that 
4  the  end  of  the  institution,  maintenance,  and  administra- 
tion of  government  is  to  secure  the  existence  of  the  body 
politic,  to  protect  it,  and  to  furnish  the  individuals  who 
compose  it  with  the  power  of  enjoying  in  safety  and  tran- 
quillity their  natural  rights  and  the  blessings  of  life ; '  — 
when  we  consider  all  this,  and  that  government,  in  all  its 
branches  and  departments,  in  all  the  intricate  machinery 
of  administration,  must  follow  the  laws  of  science,  or  follow 
not  at  all,  who  but  will  welcome  every  aid  in  its  behalf? 
who  but  will  give  thanks  and  praise  at  the  founding  of 
each  and  every  academy  devoted  to  its  great  and  enno- 
bling labors  ?  and  who  but  will  love  and  revere  the  man 
whose  never-failing  spring  of  love  to  his  fellow-man  has 
builded  in  our  midst  this  temple  in  its  honor  ?  And  most 
especially  does  it  become  the  municipality  which  has  been 
made  the  favored  recipient  of  such  a  trust  to  take  a  deep 
and  abiding  interest  in  all  that  appertains  to  its  welfare 
and  success. 

"  I  feel,  gentlemen,  the  difficulty  under  which  I  labor 


STILL  HELPING  EDUCATORS.  189 

in  speaking  to  the  cause  of  science  in  this  presence  ;  for  I 
am  as  a  stranger  in  its  fields  :  but  I  can  bear  my  willing 
testimony  to  the  vast  amount  of  good  it  has  already 
accomplished.  I  feel  that  to  it  all  things  are  possible  ; 
and  I  know  that  I  reflect  the  feelings  of  the  citizens  of 
Salem  when  I  greet  this  as  the  dawning  of  better  and 
more  glorious  days  in  the  history  of  this  our  city,  so  full 
now  of  its  proud  memories  which  we  all  delight  to  honor, 
and  in  whose  welfare  we  all  take  a  loving  and  an  earnest 
part.  * 

"  I  shall  fail,  however,  in  my  duty  here,  if  I  omit  to 
pay  my  tribute  of  respect  to  the  genius,  the  skill,  the 
industry,  and  the  devotion  of  those  gentlemen,  who,  if  life 
is  spared  to  them,  and  they  are  spared  to  you,  are  destined 
to  make  your  trust  a  perfect  and  a  famed  success.  I  refer 
to  the  present  professors  of  your  Academy.  It  is  a  deli- 
cate matter  to  speak  of  them  in  their  presence  ;  yet  I  can- 
not help  saying,  what  everybody  knows,  that  fortunate 
indeed  is  the  institution  which  can  claim  them  as  its  own. 

"  But,  sir,  I  shall  turn  away  from  any  attempt  to  speak 
the  feelings  of  those  I  have  the  honor  to  represent,  or  of 
myself,  —  the  feelings  of  admiration  and  gratitude  and 
respect  towards  him  whose  bounty,  reaching  from  conti- 
nent to  continent,  has  fallen  upon  our  heads ;  for  I  feel 
that  all  words  of  praise  would  be  commonplace,  that  all 
expressions  of  gratitude  would  be  trite,  and  that  all  words 
of  compliment  would  be  empty,  when  brought  by  me  and 
laid  at  the  feet  of  so  great  a  doer  of  good. 


190  THE  LIFE  OF   GEORGE   PEABODY. 

"  And  now  allow  me  to  say,  that  with  the  Essex  Insti- 
tute, so  favorably  known,  under  its  wise  and  active  man- 
agement;  with  our  Peabody  Academy  of  Science,  so 
recently  inaugurated  ;  with  the  far-famed  East-India  Mu- 
seum, brought  now  to  a  more  public  use  ;  and  with  the 
eminent  men  connected  with  them, — fortunate  and  happy 
indeed  must  be  the  city  which  holds  them  all  within  its 
limits ;  and  I  feel  that  I  can  pledge  you  at  all  times  the 
hearty  and  unbounded  support  and  co-operation  of  the 
citizens  of  Salem."  * 

The  Essex  Institute  of  Salem,  which  was  the  institution 
from  which  the  Peabody  Academy  of  Science  is  but  an 
outgrowth,  is  greatly  indebted  to  one  man  especially  for 
its  success.  His  untiring  zeal,  energy,  and  perseverance, 
and  his  acknowledged  ability  as  secretary  and  librarian 
and  manager-in-general  of  the  affairs  of  the  Essex  Insti- 
tute, have,  in  a  large  measure,  been  the  source  of  its  suc- 
cess. That  man  is  Dr.  Henry  Wheatland  of  Salem,  whose 
silver  hairs  are  a  crown  of  glory,  and  whose  afternoon  of 
life  is  so  radiant,  that  it  seems  as  if  his  sun  stood  still,  as 
in  the  days  of  Gideon,  while  he  battles  on  the  fields  of 
historic  and  scientific  research. 

He  said,  on  the  occasion  of  the  dedication  of  the  Pea- 
body Academy  of  Science,  and  in  response  to  a  deserved 
tribute  paid  the  Essex  Institute,  — 

"  I  thank  you,  Mr.  President,  in  behalf  of  the  Essex 
Institute,  for  your  kind  notice  on  this  occasion. 


STILL  HELPING   EDUCATORS.  191 

"  The  Institute  has  only  to  say,  that  it  has  been  humbly 
following  out  the  plan  handed  down  by  past  generations 
for  the  promotion  of  education  and  general  culture,  modi- 
fied in  some  degree  to  meet  the  wants  of  the  community 
and  the  requirements  of  the  age.  What  little  success  may 
have  attended  its  efforts  is  mainly  due  to  the  examples 
and  precepts  of  those  who  have  preceded.  These  early, 
pioneers  in  the  cause  of  science  have  borne  the  heat  and 
burden  of  the  day,  and  have  prepared  the  way,  thus  leav- 
ing it  comparatively  easy  to  follow. 

"  We  have  an  honorable  record.  Each  successive  period 
in  our  history,  from  the  landing  of  Conant,  of  Endicott, 
and  Higginson,  from  the  time  of  Roger  Williams  and 
Hugh  Peters,  to  the  present,  has  enrolled  many  names 
illustrious  for  professional  attainments,  mechanical  indus- 
tries, and  commercial  enterprises. 

"  These  materials  did  not  crystallize  into  any  permanent 
form  until  about  the  middle  of  the  last  century,  when  it 
assumed  that  of  a  social  club,  composed  of  the  leading 
spirits  of  the  day,  and  holding  weekly  meetings,  where  the 
principal  topics  of  the  day  were  discussed,  especially  those 
of  a  literary  and  scientific  character.  One  was  the  sug- 
gestion for  the  formation  of  a  library  similar  in  its  char- 
acter to  that  which  Franklin  had  established  in  Philadel- 
phia some  twenty-five  or  thirty  years  previous,  and  that 
at  Newport  by  Redwood  a  few  years  afterwards.  This 
movement  resulted  in  the  formation  of  the  Social  Library 
in  1761.     These  meetings  were  held  at  Pratt's  Tavern, 


192  THE  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  PEABODY. 

located  on  the  north-east  corner  of  Essex  and  Washington 
Streets.  At  that  time,  the  tavern  was  the  great  place  of 
resort  for  the  people ;  and  meetings  of  the  various  clubs, 
committees,  &c,  were  always  held  there. 

"  Some  twenty  years  roll  away,  and  we  behold  the 
privateer  ship  '  Pilgrim,'  Hugh  Hill,  commander,  owned 
by  the  Messrs.  Cabot,  bringing  into  the  neighboring  port 
of  Beverly  a  collection  of  books,  being  a  part  of  the 
library  of  the  celebrated  Irish  chemist,  Dr.  Richard  Kir- 
wan,  which  was  taken  from  a  schooner  captured  during 
the  early  part  of  the  year  1781  in  the  English  Channel. 
These  books,  comprising  the  '  Philosophical  Transactions 
"of  the  Royal  Society  of  London,'  '  Memoires  de  FAcadd- 
mie  Royale  des  Sciences,'  Paris,  'Miscellanea  Beroli- 
nensa,'  Boyle's  'Works,'  <  Bernouilli  Opera,'  '  Wolfii 
Elementa  Matheseos,'  and  others,  were  purchased  by  a 
company  of  gentlemen ;  and  thus  was  constituted  the 
Philosophical  Library.  This  addition  gave  a  new  impulse 
to  scientific  investigation,  and  aided  many  in  their  re- 
searches. The  late  Dr.  Nathaniel  Bowditch,  when  a 
young  man,  had  access  to  these  works,  and  thus  was  en- 
abled to  develop  more  fully  that  genius  which  enabled  him 
to  be  the  expounder  of  La  Place,  and  to  take  a  leading 
position  among  the  mathematicians  of  his  age.  In  his  will, 
Dr.  Bowditch  makes  honorable  mention  of  his  indebtedness 
to  this  library  in  his  early  studies.  Among  the  proprietors 
of  this  library  may  be  mentioned  Rev.  Joseph  Willard, 
afterwards    President    of    Harvard   College ;    Rev.    Dr. 


STILL  HELPING  EDTTCATOES.  193 

Manasseh  Cutler  of  the  Hamlet  in  Ipswich,  one  of  our 
earliest  botanists,  and  the  originator  and  conductor  of  a 
company  who  emigrated  from  this  county  in  1786  to  the 
West,  and  thus  founded  the  settlement  at  Marietta,  on  the 
banks  of  the  Ohio;  Drs.  E.  A.  Holyoke  and  Orne  of 
Salem ;  and  others. 

"  Another  score  of  years  pass,  and  we  behold  in  a  small 
room,  in  the  third  story  of  a  brick  building  erected  on  the 
site  of  the  old  tavern  previously  mentioned,  and  now 
occupied  as  a  part  of  the  printing-office  of  '  The  Salem 
Observer,'  the  nucleus  of  a  museum  originated  by  several 
of  our  citizens  engaged  in  the  East-India  trade,  then  the 
leading  business  in  Salem,  and  around  which,  by  gradual 
accretions,  has  grown  the  famous  East-India  Museum,  the 
re-arrano-ement  of  which  with  the  scientific  collections  of 
the  Essex  Institute  the  trustees  of  the  Peabody  Academy 
of  Science  this  day  dedicate  to  the  public. 

"  It  is  perhaps  needless  to  trace  further  in  detail  the 
growth  of  our  institutions :  the  principal  facts  in  their 
history  have  appeared  in  the  printed  publications  of  the 
Institute.  Suffice  it  to  mention  that  the  Salem  Athe- 
naeum was  incorporated  in  1810  :  the  Essex  Historical 
Society,  organized  in  1821,  and  the  Essex-County  Natural 
History  Society  in  1833,  were  united  and  incorporated  in 
1848  under  the  name  of  the  Essex  Institute. 

"  The  building  of  Plummer  Hall  in  1856,  from  funds 
bequeathed  by  the  late  Miss  Caroline  Plummer  of  Salem, 
and  in  which  are  deposited  the  principal  libraries,  consti- 

13 


194  THE  LIFE  OF   GEOHGE   PEABODY. 

tute  an  important  era  in  our  history.  It  is  a  singular 
coincidence,  that  this  building  is  erected  on  the  site  of  the 
house  in  which  Prescott  the  historian  first  saw  the  light 
of  day. 

"  The  donation  of  Mr.  Peabody  in  1867,  and  the  con- 
sequent formation  of  the  Trustees  of  the  Peabody  Acad- 
emy of  Science,  —  a  full  account  of  which  has  been  so  ably 
and  so  eloquently  presented  by  you,  Mr.  President,  on 
this  occasion,  —  has  relieved  the  Institute  of  a  portion  of  its 
duties,  some  of  which  have  already  been  transferred  to  the 
Academy,  —  the  care  and  maintenance  of  its  museum, 
and  the  publication  of  scientific  papers,  especially  those 
that  illustrate  the  natural  history  of  the  county.  This 
forms  another  very  important  epoch  in  our  history. 

"  This  donation  of  Mr.  Peabody  came  very  opportunely, 
at  a  time  when  the  materials  were  at  hand  to  organize  an 
institution  on  a  good  basis,  with  large  and  valuable  muse- 
ums and  a  corps  of  able  workers.  The  Museum  of  the 
East-India  Marine  Society  had  been  accumulating  for 
many  years,  and  had  acquired  a  well-merited  reputation. 
The  Essex  Institute  had,  within  the  past  few  years,  gath- 
ered together  a  corps  of  active  young  naturalists  and  of 
historical  students,  and  had  awakened  a  deep  interest  in 
scientific  studies  and  historic  research  by  its  field  and 
other  meetings,  its  lectures  and  publications  ;  at  the  same 
time,  added  largely  to  its  library  and  its  various  collections; 
awaiting,  as  it  were,  for  some  such  endowment  as  that  of 
Mr.  Peabody  to  galvanize  them  into  a  more  active  sphere 
of  usefulness. 


STILL  HELPING   EDUCATORS.  195 

"  The  Institute  has  cause  for  great  congratulation  that 
one  of  its  cherished  departments  is  so  well  cared  for ;  and 
that,  under  the  auspices  of  the  Academy,  an  accurate 
survey  of  the  natural  resources  of  the  county  will  be 
made,  that  the  same  may  be  developed  to  the  fullest 
extent ;  and  that  a  knowledge  of  the  sciences,  especially 
their  application  to  the  arts,  be  diffused  among  the  people, 
so  that,  by  the  aid  of  skilled  labor,  the  greatest  practical 
results  can  be  obtained  with  the  least  expenditure  of  time 
and  capital. 

"  The  Essex  Institute  in  its  organization  recognizes 
three  departments,  —  those  of  natural  history,  history,  and 
horticulture. 

"  The  first,  as  has  been  before  mentioned,  is  in  good 
hands.  It  is  immaterial  who  does  the  work,  or  who  has 
the  credit  for  doing  the  same,  provided  that  it  is  well  done. 
The  second  and  third  have  received  no  special  endow- 
ment ;  and  what  little  provision  they  obtain  must  come 
from  the  ordinary  income,  or  from  future  acts  of  munifi- 
cence. 

"  The  horticultural  department  has  taken,  in  years  past, 
a  prominent  position  in  the  doings  of  the  society.  The 
exhibitions  of  fruits  and  flowers  have  been  considered  as 
ranking  favorably  with  those  of  similar  institutions.  This 
city  and  the  vicinity  have  always  had  a  goodly  array  of 
enthusiastic  and  successful  cultivators  of  the  choicest  pro- 
ductions of  Flora  and  Pomona.  Among  those  of  the  past, 
the  name  of  Robert  Manning  the  elder  stands  prominent 


198  THE  "LIFE   OF   GEORGE  PEABODY. 

as  a  pioneer  in  the  cultivation  of  fruit,  especially  of  the 
pear. 

"  The  garden  of  J.  F.  Allen  exhibited  for  several  sea- 

CD 

sons  a  fine  display  of  that  gorgeous  lily,  the  Victoria 
Regia;  and  his  excellent  treatise  on  this  flower,  with 
superb  illustrations,  finds  a  place  in  every  public  library. 
Yet  later,  Allen's  Hybrids  and  Rogers's  Hybrid  Seedling 
Grapes  are  attracting  the  attention  of  all  the  cultivators 
of  this  choice  and  delicious  fruit. 

"  Essex  County  is  one  of  the  oldest  in  New  England. 
Her  records  date  back  to  an  early  period.  Its  children 
have  been  and  are  now  among  the  prominent  in  all  the 
greatest  enterprises  of  their  respective  periods,  and  have 
received  their  merited  reward.  Let  us  cherish  their 
memories  with  strict  fidelity,  and  transmit  the  same,  unim- 
paired, to  the  latest  posterity. 

"  To  this  end  it  is  necessary  to  preserve  with  the  great- 
est care  all  papers,  loose  manuscript-leaves,  interleaved 
almanacs  with  inserted  notes,  old  records,  diaries,  &c, 
that  are  scattered  through  our  county.  The}^  are  found 
in  the  archives  of  our  towns,  in  the  various  parishes,  and 
in  almost  every  hamlet. 

"  The  county  commissioners  have,  with  a  wise  fore- 
thought, done  a  good  work  in  having  the  papers  belonging 
to  the  old  quarterly  courts  properly  arranged  and  placed 
into  volumes,  the  whole  carefully  indexed  under  the 
superintendence  of  W.  P.  Upham,  one  of  our  most  care- 
ful and  zealous  antiquarian  scholars.     Thanks  to  the  com- 


STILL  HELPING   EDUCATOKS.  197 

missioners  for  what  lias  thus  far  been  done.  May  they  be 
induced  to  extend  the  same  protecting  care  to  all  the 
other  records  that  are  deposited  in  the  various  county 
offices ! 

"  It  is  very  desirable  that  the  Essex  Institute  should  be 
placed  in  a  condition  to  collect  and  arrange  in  a  similar 
manner  all  the  scattered  materials  that  will  elucidate  our 
history.  If  the  originals  cannot  be  obtained,  exact  copies 
of  the  same  should  be  carefully  made.  Many  of  these 
papers  will  undoubtedly  be  found  worthy  of  being 
printed  ;  and,  if  no  provision  should  be  made  that  the 
same  be  done,  an  opportunity  is  here  offered  for  some 
liberal-minded  son  or  sons  of  Essex  to  contribute  to  this 
worthy  object.  In  no  better  and  more  enduring  way  can 
one  be  remembered  in  the  future  than  by  cherishing  a 
due  regard  for  the  memory  of  those  who  have  contributed 
so  much  for  the  comfort  and  happiness  of  the  present 
generation." 

The  whole  of  the  above  address  is  given,  because  it  con- 
cerns the  county  which  was  nearest  Mr.  Peabody's  heart, 
because  it  was  his  native  county.  It  will  "be  seen  by 
the  address  that  the  Peabody  Academy  of  Science  does 
not  take  the  place  of  the  Essex  Institute,  nor  is  it  over- 
shadowed by  the  latter.  They  work  together.  Accord- 
in  «■  to  the  reliable  statements  of  Dr.  Wheatland,  — 

"  The  real  status  of  the  Essex  Institute  is  nearly  this  : 
An   institution  with   several   hundred   members   resident 


198  THE  LIFE  OF   GEORGE   PEABODY. 

in  all  the  towns  of  Essex  County,  its  headquarters  in  Sa- 
lem, its  rooms  in  Plummer  Hall,  where  is  deposited  its 
library  of  some  twenty-five  thousand  volumes,  and  a  large 
collection  of  historical  matter.  It  owns  a  fine  collection 
of  specimens  of  natural  history,  deposited  with  the  Pea- 
body  Academy.  It  holds,  in  the  summer-season,  some 
half-dozen  assemblies  in  fit  localities,  occupying  a  whole 
day  at  each :  the  forenoon  is  spent  in  explorations  and  re- 
search, and  the  afternoon  given  to  discussions  and  reports. 
These  occasions,  called  4  field-meetings,'  are  open  to  every 
one,  and  are  always  highly  diversified  and  agreeable,  com- 
bining the  ease  of  the  picnic  with  the  profit  of  the  lecture- 
room.  In  the  winter-season,  evening  meetings  are  held 
on  the  first  and  third  Mondays  of  each  month ;  and,  occa- 
sionally, courses  of  historical  and  scientific  lectures  are 
given.  The  publications  consist  of  a  volume  of  historical 
collections  annually,  of  some  three  hundred  pages,  and  the 
'Bulletin,'  a  record  of  meetings,  short  communications 
on  subjects  of  which  the  Institute  takes  cognizance,  dona- 
tions, correspondence,  &c.  Papers  of  a  strictly  scientific 
character,  requiring  illustrations,  may  probably  be  printed 
by  the  Peabody  Academy,  or  arrangements  to  that  effect 
will  probably  be  made ;  otherwise  by  the  Institute,  under 
the  appellation  of  '  Memoirs.' 

"  Thus  we  have  in  Salem  two  institutions,  working  in 
a  common  cause,  having  organizations  entirely  different  in 
character,  —  the  Academy,  a  close  corporation  of  nine 
members,  holding  funds  for  specific  purposes,  and  employ- 


STILL   HELPING  EDUCATORS.  199 

ing  agents  to  perform  duties  not  inconsistent  with  the 
instrument  of  trust ;  the  other  a  popular  institution  of 
some  hundreds  of  members,  including  a  large  portion  of 
those  citizens  of  the  county  who  are  interested  in  the 
promotion  of  general  culture  and  refinement.  The  one 
supplements  the  other ;  and  there  is  no  reason  why  the 
two  may  not  continue,  as  now,  to  co-operate  harmoniously 
in  the  performance  of  the  important  duties  committed  to 
their  care,  and  thus  build  up  an  institution,  or  a  series  of 
institutions,  which  will  shed  a  brilliant  lustre  for  a  long 
term  of  years  thoughout  our  land,  and  be  a  beacon-light  to 
the  investigation  in  history,  science,  art,  and  literature. 

"  In  conclusion,  it  may  be  mentioned  that  Mr.  Peabody, 
in  his  instrument  of  trust,  empowers  his  trustees  to  make 
such  arrangements  and  agreements  with  the  Essex  Institute 
as  may  be  necessary  or  expedient  for  carrying  into  effect 
the  provisions  of  his  instrument ;  also  that  all  the  trustees, 
the  director,  the  curators,  and  assistants,  are  members  of  the 
Institute ;  and  those  who  reside  within  the  limits  of  the 
comity  hold  either  an  office  or  a  place  on  some  important 
standing-committee,  as  president,  vice-president,  superin- 
tendent, corresponding  secretary,  and  curators. 

"  Though  entirely  distinct  in  their  organization,  these 
two  institutions  may,  in  part,  be  considered  as  one  ;  many 
of  the  offices  in  both  being  held  by  the  same  persons. 
Thus  linked  together  in  a  common  bond  of  union,^uo  diver- 
sity of  interest  can  exist ;  each  having  its  respective  field 
of  operations,  and  line  of  duty." 


200  THE  LIFE   OF  GEORGE  PEABODY. 

After  a  membership  of  nearly  ten  years,  commencing 
while  a  resident  of  Essex  County,  and  never  relinquished, 
because  so  highly  valued,  the  writer  of  this  memorial  vol- 
ume can  only  add  to  Dr.  Wheatland's  remarks  an  em- 
phatic "  Amen." 


CHAPTER    XIII. 


YET   GIVING    CHEERFULLY. 


Massachusetts  Historical  Society.  —  Kenyon  College,  and  Mr.  Peabody's 
Donation  to  it. —  Documents  in  Eegard  to  the  Acceptable  Gifts. 

"  And  while  '  Lord,  Lord  I '  the  pious  tyrants  cried, 
Who  in  the  poor  their  Master  crucified, 
His  daily  prayer,  far  hetter  understood 
In  acts  than  words,  was  simply  doing  good."  —  Whittier. 

"Through  wisdom  is  a  house  huilded;  and  hy  understanding  it  is  established; 
and  by  knowledge  shall  the  chambers  be  filled  with  all  precious  and  pleasant 
riches."  — Prov.  xxiv.  3,  4. 

iMONG  the  excellent  institutions  of  Massachu- 
setts is  its  Historical  Society,  which  elected 
Mr.  Peabody  an  honorary  member  on  the 
12th  of  July,  1866 ;  and,  at  the  society-meeting 
in  September  following,  the  corresponding  secretary  read 
a  letter  from  Mr.  Peabody,  stating  his  acceptance  of  the 
honor.  At  the  November  meeting  of  the  same  year,  the 
president  of  the  society  (Hon.  R.  C.  Winthrop)  laid  be- 
fore the  society  a  copy  of  the  letter  and  trust-instrument, 
whereby  Mr.  Peabody  established  a  museum  and  profess- 
orship of  American  archeology  and  ethnology  in  connec- 
tion with  Harvard  University,  in  which  he  named  the 

201 


202  THE   LIFE   OF   GEORGE   PEABODY. 

President  of  the  Massachusetts  Historical  Society,  ex  officio, 
forever  one  of  the  trustees :  whereupon  the  following  reso- 
lution was  submitted :  — 

"  Resolved,  That  Mr.  Peabody's  letter,  and  instrument 
of  trust,  be  entered  in  full  on  the  records  of  this  society ; 
and  that  the  president  be  instructed  to  communicate  to 
Mr.  Peabody  the  deep  and  grateful  sense  which  is  enter- 
tained by  us  all  of  the  interest  and  importance  of  the  insti- 
tution which  he  has  thus  founded,  and  of  the  munificence 
and  wisdom  with  which  he  has  provided  for  its  manage- 
ment and  support." 

The  remarks  which  followed  the  reading  of  this  resolu- 
tion are  already  mentioned  in  a  previous  chapter. 

In  January  of  the  following  year,  the  Massachusetts 
Historical  Society  was  called  on  to  be  grateful  in  its  own 
behalf  particularly.  At  the  meeting  in  January,  the  presi- 
dent said  that  he  had  received  a  communication  from  our 
distinguished  honorary  member,  Mr.  George  Peabody, 
which  he  was  sure  would  be  listened  to  with  high  gratifi- 
cation and  with  deep  gratitude  by  every  member  present. 
He  then  proceeded  to  read  the  following  letter :  — 

"Boston,  Jan.  1,  1867. 
"  To  the  Hon.  Robert  C.  Winthrop,  President  of  the  Massachu- 
setts Historical  Society. 

"  My  dear  Sir,  —  I  have  for  some  time  desired  to  grat- 
ify a  wish  which  I  once  expressed  to  you,  and  while  I 


YET   GIVING    CHEERFULLY.  203 

should,  at  the  same  time,  mark  my  strong  personal  esteem 
and  regard  for  yourself,  and  my  appreciation  of  the  past 
labors  and  researches  of  the  venerable  and  distinguished 
society  of  which  you  are  president,  to  contribute,  in  some 
degree,  to  extend  its  future  usefulness,  and  preserve  its 
valued  memorials. 

"  With  these  objects  in  view,  therefore,  I  beg  to  present, 
through  you,  to  the  Massachusetts  Historical  Society,  the 
sum  of  twenty  thousand  dollars  in  the  five-per-cent  ten- 
forty  coupon-bonds  of  the  United  States,  bearing  accrued 
interest  from  the  1st  of  September  last ;  which  bonds,  or 
their  proceeds,  shall  be  held  by  them  as  a  permanent  trust- 
fund,  of  which  the  income  shall  be  appropriated  to  the 
publication  and  illustration  of  their  proceedings  and  me- 
moirs, and  to  the  preservation  of  their  historical  portraits. 

"  I  will  thank  you  to  do  me  the  favor  to  communicate 
this  to  the  society  at  their  next  meeting,  to  be  held  on  the 
10th  inst. 

"  I  am,  with  great  respect,  your  humble  servant, 

"  George  Peabody." 

Dr.  Ellis  then  offered  the  following  res6lutions :  — 

"Resolved,  That  the  members  of  the  Massachusetts  His- 
torical Society  have  listened  with  profound  gratification  to 
the  reading,  by  their  president,  of  the  letter  of  Mr.  George 
Peabody,  accompanying  his  gift  to  the  society  of  twenty 
thousand  dollars ;  and  that  it  is  with  the  sincerest  gratitude 
to   the    munificent    donor   that    we    thus    find    ourselves 


204  THE  LIFE   OF   GEOIIGE  PEABODY. 

sharers  in  the  comprehensive  generosity  which  has  been 
exercised  in  England  and  in  the  United  States  with  such 
varied,  discriminating,  and  admirable  adaptation  to  so  many 
noble  interests  of  humanity,  science,  and  liberal  culture. 

"  Resolved,  That  we  recognize  this  noble  gift  as  espe- 
cially opportune  in  time  and  occasion,  and  as  peculiarly 
adapted,  in  the  purposes  which  its  donor  assigns  for  it,  to 
what  have  recently  been  felt  to  be  the  most  pressing  wants 
of  the  society.  We,  therefore,  hereby  pledge  ourselves, 
and  would  bind  our  successors,  to  a  faithful  keeping  and 
improvement  of  the  fund,  to  be  called  henceforward 
4  The  Peabody  Fund,'  of  which  we  are  thus  put  in  posses- 
sion ;  having  regard  alike  to  the  conditions  so  intelligently 
set  forth  by  Mr.  Peabody,  and  to  the  importance  of  the 
special  objects  he  has  aimed  to  serve. 

"  Resolved,  That  our  best  appreciation  of  this  gift,  and 
the  most  fitting  return  which  we  can  make  to  its  donor, 
will  be  in  our  finding  in  it,  individually  and  as  a  society, 
a  new  and  continued  incentive  to  industry,  earnestness, 
and  fidelity  in  pursuing  the  investigations  and  labors  for 
which  we  are  here  associated. 

"  Resolved,  That  the  president  be  requested  to  commu- 
nicate to  Mr.  Peabody  a  copy  of  these  resolutions,  and  to 
assure  him  that  his  gift  is  gratefully  received,  and  shall  be 
faithfully  used." 

Dr.  Ellis  then  spoke  as  follows  :  — 

"  While  we  are  content  to  repeat  much  the  same  famil- 


YET   GIVING   CHEERFULLY.  205 

iar  words  and  forms  of  speech  in  asking  for  favors,  we 
often  wish  that  we  had  new  and  fresh  terms  for  acknowl- 
edging them.  We  should  be  glad  to  have  a  more  ample 
range,  and  a  fuller  variety  of  expressions  of  recognition 
and  gratitude.  We  feel  that  we  might  then  adapt  our 
acknowledgments  of  obligation  for  a  favor  received  to  the 
special  occasion,  to  the  opportuneness,  and  to  the  present 
and  prospective  value,  of  the  benefit  conferred,  and  thus 
avoid  the  generalities  and  commonplaces  of  thankful  ac- 
knowledgment. 

"  So,  at  least,  I  felt,  Mr.  President,  when,  at  your 
request,  I  set  myself  to  draw  up  the  formal  resolutions  of 
gratitude  to  our  new  benefactor,  that  should,  at  the  same 
time,  convey  a  personal  tribute  which  we  might  hope 
would  be  acceptable  to  him,  and  express  our  high  estimate 
of  the  opportuneness  and  value  of  his  gift.  There  is 
something  about  the  personality  and  the  individuality  of 
that  honored  and  munificent  man  ;  something  in  the  nature 
and  method  of  his  wide  liberality ;  something  in  the  con- 
cise forms  and  in  the  dignified  simplicity  of  the  writings 
which  accompany  his  trust-funds,  defining  their  conditions 
and  uses ;  there  is  something  in  the  style  in  which  he 
thus  confers  great  favors,  —  which  would  naturally  prompt 
the  recipients  of  them  to  make  a  careful  choice  of  their 
words  of  thankfulness  and  appreciation.  For  if,  of  any 
one  benefactor  of  his  own  and  of  coming  generations,  a 
wide  notoriety  for  the  multiplicity  and  variety  and  amount 
of  his  gifts  might  prompt  a  reiteration  of  the  same  epithets 


206  THE   LIFE   OF   GEORGE   FEABODY. 

and  praises,  it  will  be  difficult  for  writers  in  newspapers, 
and  drawers-np  of  resolutions,  to  vary  their  eulogiums  of 
him  who  now  stands  before  the  world  as  the  example  of  a 
more  than  princely  munificence,  distributed  in  his  native 
and  in  his  adopted  country  to  ,the  most  wisely-chosen  and 
the  best-discriminated  objects.  We  can  well  imagine  that 
all  fulsome  and  extravagant  terms  would  fail  to  find  in 
.him  the  weak  spot  of  vanity  or  susceptibility ;  while  still 
his  modesty  is  conjoined  with  so  true  a  discernment,  and 
so  practical  a  good  sense,  that  he  will  not  be  indifferent  to 
the  fitness  of  the  responses  made  to  him  by  those  whom 
he  favors.  He  will  expect  to  be  assured  of  their  purposes 
of  fidelity  in  holding  and  using  the  trust-funds  which  he 
commits  to  them.  Indeed,  it  has  seemed  to  me  that  the 
more  ambitious  of  our  rising  young  business-men,  who  are 
eager  for  great  acquisitions,  may  find  Mr.  Peabody  betray- 
ing to  them,  in  some  sort,  the  secret  of  the  method  of  his 
vast  gathering  of  wealth,  in  the  method  of  his  distribution 
of  it.  Those  accumulations  of  his,  we  know,  with  what- 
ever felicities  of  good  fortune  he  had  to  help  him,  must 
have  engaged  the  patient,  steady,  and  persistent  exercise 
of  an  inquisitive  and  discreet  mind  given  to  practical  deal- 
ing with  the  complicated  affairs  of  business.  He  devotes 
much  careful  thought  and  scrutiny  to  informing  himself 
about  the  enterprises  and  institutions  to  be  benefited  by 
his  generosity.  Putting  himself  into  relations  of  confi- 
dence with  their  official  representatives,  he  learns  their 
actual  purposes  and  wants.     The  impulse  or  the  aid  which 


YET  GIVING   CHEERFULLY.  207 

lie  gives  to  any  object  that  commends  itself  to  him  is  ac- 
companied, in  its  announcement  or  direction,  by  some 
sagacious  counsel,  readily  inferred,  if  not  distinctly  ex- 
pressed. I  suppose,  Mr.  President,  though  you  have  been 
silent  on  the  point,  that  we  are  at  liberty  to  imagine  some 
friendly  offices  of  your  own  in  behalf  of  the  society,  through 
your  confidential  relations  with  Mr.  Peabody.  He  has  cer- 
tainly become  well  acquainted  with  our  wants,  and  has  met 
them  when  and  where  we  have  most  sensibly  felt  them." 

Remarks  were  also  made,  in  grateful  acknowledgment 
of  Mr.  Peabody's  benefaction,  by  Col.  Aspinwall,  Judge 
Savage,  and  Leverett  Saltonstall,  Esq.  On  motion  of 
Hon.  Stephen  Salisbury,  it  was  voted  to  place  a  bust  or 
portrait  of  Mr.  Peabody  in  one  of  the  rooms  of  the  soci- 
ety. It  was  afterwards  voted  to  allow  Prof.  Wyman  to 
select  aboriginal  relics  from  the  collection  belonging  to  the 
Massachusetts  Historical  Society,  and  remove  them  to  the 
Peabody  Museum  at  Cambridge,  with  the  idea,  that,  by 
connecting  them  with  a  laro;e  collection  of  other  archaeo- 
logical  objects,  they  will  be  made  better  to  accomplish  the 
purpose  of  the  original  donors. 

Mr.  Peabody  also  donated  the  sum  of  twenty-five  thou- 
sand dollars  to  Kenyon  College,  Gambier,  O.,  of  which  his 
friend,  Bishop  Mcllvaine,  was  then  president.  Want  of 
space  forbids  the  insertion  of  the  documents,  which  indi- 
cated the  purpose  of  the  donor,  and  the  gratitude  of  those 
who  were  benefited  by  his  gift. 


CHAPTER    XIV. 

FILIAL   DEVOTION. 

Memorial  Church  at  Georgetown.  —  Mr.  Peabody's  Love  for  his  Mother.  — 
Hymn  for  the  Dedication,  by  John  G.  Whittier.  —  Gifts  to  his  Family 
and  Friends. 

"  My  mother  I  at  that  holy  name, 
Within  my  hosom  there's  a  gush 
Of  feeling  which  no  time  can  tame ; 
A  feeling,  which  for  years  of  fame 
I  would  not,  could  not,  crush."  —  Geo.  P.  Morris. 

"  Forsake  not  the  law  of  thy  mother."  —  Prov.  i.  8. 

>N  1839,  the  town  which  was  the  birthplace  of 
George  Peabody's  mother,  and  is  now  the 
residence  of  his  sister,  Mrs.  Daniels,  had  its 
name  changed  from  New  Rowley  to  George- 
town, in  honor  of  Mr.  Peabody.  The  special  corre- 
spondent of  "  The  Washington  Chronicle  "  says  that  "  it 
has  always  been  one  of  his  favorite  retreats  when  in  this 
country.  The  people  respected  his  wish  for  retirement ; 
and  this  tact  on  their  part  was  fully  appreciated  by  Mr. 
Peabody,  who  said,  when  he  was  making  arrangements  in 
regard  to  a  farewell  reception,  previous  to  his  departure 
for  England  in   1867,  that  he  '  should  like   to  take*  each 


FILIAL   DEVOTION.  209 

resident  by  the  hand ;  for  he  had  never,  in  any  visit  in 
Georgetown,  been  annoyed  by  calls  or  letters,  and  that  not 
one  of  the  citizens  had  ever  in  any  way  solicited  help  from 
him.'  This  fact  he  considered  very  remarkable,  and  with 
reason  ;  for  among  the  begging-letters  which  he  constantly 
received,  and  which  were  never  answered,  but  quietly 
turned  over  to  his  sister,  was  one  from  Georgia  containing 
forty  closely-ivritten  pages. 

"Here  Mr.  Peabody  erected  a  church  to  the  memory  of 
his  mother,  to  whom,  in  death  as  in  life,  he  was  devoted  ; 
giving  her  the  first  dollar  he  earned  in  boyhood,  and 
bestowing  the  last  thoughts  of  his  honored  old  age  upon  a 
memorial  of  her  Christian  character.  .  .  .  Mr.  Peabody's 
devotion  to  his  mother  and  family  was  as  thoughtful  as 
that  of  a  woman  ;  and,  after  he  became  very  wealthy, 
the  old  townspeople  used  to  revive  reminiscences  in  that 
direction  concerning  him.  I  recollect  hearing  my  mother 
say,  that,  as  soon  as  he  was  established  in  Baltimore,  he 
wrote  to  his  mother  that  'he  should  be  able,  for  the  future, 
to  supply  the  family  with  flour ;  '  and  Mrs.  Peabody 
remarked,  as  she  mentioned  the  circumstance  to  a  friend, 
that  '  it  was  a  great  comfort  to  have  George  prosperous 
enough  to  bear  the  expenses.'  And,  from  that  day  to  her 
last,  George  never  allowed  his  mother  to  want  any  thing 
that  filial  love  could  bestow. 

"  Mr.  Peabody,  as  everybody  knows,  was  a  great  lover 
of  peace  and  concord.  Nothing  would  disturb  him  more 
than  the  thought  that  any  act  of  his  might  create  strife. 

14 


210  THE   LIFE   OF   GEORGE   PEABODY. 

This  tendency  was  strikingly  manifested  at  his  farewell 
reception  in  Georgetown,  when,  referring  to  the  Memorial 
Church,  he  distinctly  stated  that  it  was  created  solely  as  a 
tribute  to  his  mother,  and  was  given  to  her  denomination, 
—  Orthodox  Congregational,  —  from  reverence  for  her 
memory  ;  and  that  it  would  have  been  given  with  equal 
satisfaction  had  she  belonged  to  any  other  persuasion  : 
thus  showing  his  intention  to  deprive  the  gift  of  any 
sectarian  bias  which  might  cause  bitterness. 

"  I  used,  as  a  child,  to  study  the  portrait  of  Mr.  Pea- 
body  which  hung  in  his  sister's  parlor.  It  represented  a 
singularly  handsome  middle-aged  man.  I  was  always 
greatly  impressed  by  the  tone  of  mingled  pride  and  affec- 
tion with  which  his  sister  spoke  of  him ;  and  I  remember 
hearing  a  gentleman,  in  some  discussion  with  this  lady, 
ask  her  if  she  ever  saw  a  person  who  had  never  told  a 
lie  :  to*  which  she  promptly  replied,  '  Yes  :  I  am  sure  that 
my  brother  George  never  told  a  lie.'  I  used  to  connect 
this  statement,  as  children  will,  with  the  kind  blue  eyes 
and  bright  brown  hair  of  the  portrait ;  and  occasionally, 
as  I  saw  '  G.  P.'  in  our  Sunday-school  books,  indicating 
that  Mr.  Peabody  had  given  them  to  us,  I  thought  of  him 
as  the  man  who  had  never  told  a  lie.  I  do  not  remember, 
however,  that  I  ever  saw  him  till  1866  ;  when  I  was  glad 
to  recognize  in  the  aged  but  still  majestic  man  a  striking 
likeness  to  the  picture  which  had  won  my  childish  admira- 
tion. During  this  visit  in  1866,  he  gave  the  town  a 
public  library,  —  a  gift  by  which  all  the  inhabitants  could 


FILIAL   DEVOTION.  211 

be  benefited  ;  and  here,  on  the  afternoon  of  his  farewell 
reception,  he  reviewed  the  children  of  the  public  schools, 
standing  with  uncovered  head  on  the  steps  of  his  sister's 
house  as  they  filed  past,  bearing  tiny  flags  of  our  national 
red,  white,  and  blue.  It  was  a  pleasant  sight ;  and  many 
a  teacher  preached  a  sermon  to  her  little  flock  from  the 
text,  — '  Seest  thou  a  man  diligent  in  business  ?  he  shall 
stand  before  kings  ;  he  shall  not  stand  before  mean  men,'  — 
with  the  courtly  yet  genial  man,  who  had  smiled  and 
spoken  so  kindly  to  them,  as  a  living  illustration.  .  .  . 

"  Here,  during  his  last- visit,  he  added  a  lecture-room 
to  his  previous  gift  of  a  library,  and  made  arrangements 
for  free  lectures,  and  a  fund  for  the  support  of  the  library. 
And,  having  completed  every  thing  to  his  mind,  he  said 
smilingly  to  Mr.  R.  S.  Tenney,  the  gentleman  with  whom 
he  and  his  sister  made  their  home,  'Well,  I  believe  I 
have  paid  all  my  debts  to  this  town  :  I  believe  I  do  not 
owe  it  any  thing.'  To  which  Mr.  Tenney  Very  happily 
replied,  '  We  cannot  say  the  same  of  you,  Mr.  Peabody : 
we  shall  always  owe  you.'  And  Mr.  Peabody  responded 
with  great,  feeling,  '  If  it  has  been  as  pleasant  to  you  to 
receive  as  it  has  been  to  me  to  bestow,  you  have  enjoyed 
a  great  deal.'  " 

The  above  paragraphs  from  the  letter  of  Mrs.  A.  W. 
H.  Howard  to  a  Washington  paper  are  of  special  interest. 
The  story  of  the  long  letter  from  Georgia  suggests  addi- 
tion of  the  statement  of  some  paper,  that  "  Mr.  Peabody 


212  THE  LIFE  OF   GEOUGE  PEABODY. 

received  one  letter  of  thirty-six  foolscap  pages  from  a 
decayed  English  gentleman,  who  solicited  a  loan  of  a  few 
thousand  pounds  to  establish  the  claims  of  his  family  to  an 
estate.  Mr.  Peabody  wrote  in  reply  substantially  this  : 
i  That  you  should  have  written  such  a  letter  would  sur- 
prise your  friends :  that  I  should  have  read  it  would 
indeed  surprise  mine.'  " 

But  it  is  of  the  Georgetown  church  mention  should 
here  be  made.  According  to  "  The  Newburyport  Her- 
ald "  of  Jan.  10,  1868,  "  The  church  is  a  substantial  and 
elegant  brick  structure,  in  the  English  style,  one  hundred 
and  twelve  feet  long,  sixty-eight  feet  wide,  and  one  hun- 
dred and  twelve  feet  high  to  the  top  of  the  tower.  It  is 
finished  in  chestnut,  with  black-walnut  mouldings :  the 
interior  harmonizing  in  all  its  details  with  the  general 
architectural  plan.  It  contains  one  hundred  pews,  capable 
of  seatins;  seven  hundred  persons.  It  is  lighted  bv  ras  : 
the  chandelier  and  sidelights  numbering  forty  double  burn- 
ers. The  bell,  which  is  of  twenty-eight  hundred  pounds 
weight,  and  the  clock,  a  fine  piece  of  mechanism,  were 
sent  by  Mr.  Peabody  from  London.  The  organ  is  one  of 
Hook's  best  instruments,  built  at  a  cost  of  four  thousand 
dollars.  ...  At  the  end  of  the  church,  opposite  the 
entrance,  are  three  marble  tablets  with  dedicatory  inscrip- 
tions. Over  the  pulpit  the  legend  is,  '  Dedicated  to  the 
service  of  Almighty  God.  Holiness  becometh  thine 
house,  O  Lord !  forever.'  The  one  on  the  right  of 
the   pulpit   has  the  following :    '  This  house,   erected  in 


FILIAL  DEVOTION.  213 

18G6-7  for  the  use  of  the  Orthodox  Con  cjre national 
Church  and  Society,  is  affectionately  consecrated  by  her 
children,  George  and  Judith,  to  the  memory  of  Mrs. 
Judith  Peabody,  who  was  born  in  this  parish  July  25, 
1770,  and  who  died  June  22,  1830.' 

"  The  surroundings  of  the  church  are  in  perfect  keeping 
with  the  edifice.  .  .  .  There  is  a  massive  iron  fence  in 
front,  a  commodious  range  of  sheds  in  the  rear  ;  while  the 
vacant  space  between  the  church  and  the  library -building 
is  being  graded  and  laid  out,  preparatory  to  the  planting 
of  trees  and  flowers.  .  .  .  The  cost  of  the  house  is  esti- 
mated at  one  hundred  thousand  dollars.  It  has  been 
about  a  year  and  a  half  in  building  ;  and  the  result  is  the 
finest  place  of  worship  in  this  section,  a  grand  monument 
of  Mr.  Peabody's  liberality,  and  an  honor  to  all  concerned 
in  its  erection." 

At  the  dedication,  a  letter  was  read  from  Mr.  Peabody. 
The  sermon  was  preached  by  Rev.  Dr.  M.  P.  B  ram  an 
of  Danvers,  and  the  consecration-prayer  offered  by  Rev. 
John  Pike  of  Rowley.  The  following  touching  memorial- 
hymn  by  John  G.  Whittier  was  sung :  — 

Thou  dwellest  not,  O  Lord  of  all ! 

In  temples  which  thy  children  raise : 
Our  work  to  thine  is  mean  and  small, 

And  brief  to  thy  eternal  days. 

Forgive  the  weakness  and  the  pride, 

If  marred  thereby  our  gift  may  be ; 
For  love,  at  least,  has  sanctified 

The  altar  which  we  rear  to  thee. 


214  THE  LIFE   OF   GEORGE  PEABODY. 

The  heart,  and  not  the  hand,  has  wrought, 

From  sunken  base  to  tower  above, 
The  image  of  a  tender  thought, 

The  memory  of  a  deathless  love. 

Though  here  should  never  sound  of  speech 

Or  organ-anthem  rise  or  fall, 
Its  stones  would  pious  lessons  teach, 

Its  shade  in  benedictions  fall. 

Here  should  the  dove  of  peace  be  found, 

And  blessings  free  as  dew-fall  given ; 
Nor  strife  profane,  nor  hatred,  wound 

The  mingled  loves  of  earth  and  heaven. 

Thou  who  didst  soothe  with  dying  breath 

The  dear  one  watching  by  thy  cross, 
Forgetful  of  the  pains  of  death 

In  sorrow  for  her  mighty  loss,  — 

In  memory  of  her  sacred  claim, 

0  Mary's  Son !  our  offering  take, 
And  make  it  worthy  of  thy  name, 

And  bless  it  for  a  mother's  sake. 

An  editor  says,  — 

"  We  recently  had  the  pleasure  of  seeing,  at  the  house 
of  Mr.  George  J.  Tenney,  one  of  the  last  presents  be- 
stowed by  Mr.  Peabody  before  his  final  departure  from 
this  country.  It  consists  of  a  heavy  pitcher  and  goblet  of 
solid  silver  (the  latterlined  with  gold),  enclosed  in  a  hand- 
some case  ;  and  the  following  inscription  upon  the  pitcher 
tells  the    story  of  the   gift :    « George    Peabody  and    his 


FILIAL  DEVOTION.  215 

sister  Judith  to  Charles  Carleton,  in  appreciation  of  his 
skill  and  fidelity  as  superintendent  in  the  erection  of  the 
Memorial  Church  at  Georgetown.' ': 

Mr.  Peabody's  benefactions  to  his  family  and  immedi- 
ate personal  friends  were  worthy  of  mention ;  but  it  is 
not  the  purpose  of  this  volume  to  record  many  beside  his 
public  benefactions.  To  the  city  of  Newburyport,  Mr. 
Peabody  gave  the  sum  of  fifteen  thousand  dollars,  in  18G7, 
for  the  enlargement  of  the  Public  Library ;  saying,  in  his 
letter,  that  he  wished  to  mark  his  memory  of  that  portion 
of  his  youth  that  was  passed  in  that  town,  and  his  grateful 
appreciation  of  the  kindness  there  shown  to  him.  About 
a  year  ago,  he  manifested  a  continued  interest  in  that  city 
by  sending  the  following  letter,  addressed  to  E.  S.  Moseley, 
Esq. :  — 

"  64  Queen  Street,  Cheapside,  London,  E.C., 
April  3,  1869. 

"  Dear  Sir,  —  Some  time  last  spring,  I  had  an  intima- 
tion, as  coming  from  you  as  chairman  of  the  Peabody 
Trust  Fund,  that  a  portrait  from  me,  for  their  library, 
wTould  be  highly  appreciated. 

"  I  therefore  employed  one  of  the  best  of  the  Queen's 
portrait-painters,  and  gave  him  the  last  sitting  a  few  days 
ago.  The  portrait  is  pronounced  excellent.  I  shall  ship  it 
by  an  early  steamer  to  Boston,  and  send  you  a  bill  of  lading, 
with  freight  and  all  charges  paid. 

"  Very  respectfully  and  truly  yours, 

"  George  Peabody." 


216  THE  LIFE   OF   GEORGE   PEABODY. 

Besides  these  gifts  above  mentioned  were  those  of 
twenty-five  thousand  dollars  to  the  Phillips  Academy  at 
Andover,  Mass.,  and  ten  thousand  dollars  to  the  Sanitary 
Commission  during  the  war.  Truly  the  wealth  God  gave 
into  George  Peabody's  hands  was  widely,  and  it  would 
seem  wisely,  scattered. 


CHAPTER   XV. 

RETURN    TO    ENGLAND. 
Illness  of  Mr.  Peabody.  —  Return  to  England.  —  Sir  Curtis  Lampson. 

"  Adieu,  adieu !  my  native  shore 
Fades  o'er  the  waters  blue."  —  Childe  Harold. 

"  And,  like  some  low  and  mournful  spell, 
To  whisper  hut  the  word,  Farewell ! "  —  Park  Benjamin. 

"  Sorrowing  most  of  all  for  the  words  which  he  spake,  that  they  should  see  his  face 
no  more."  — Acts  xx.  38. 

|T  is  said  that  the  last  time  Mr.  Peabody  spoke 
in  public  was  at  the  National   Peace  Jubilee  in 
Boston.     His  health  was  then  failing;  but  he 
had  a  notion  —  a  strange  one,  when  we  con- 
sider how  many  tons  of  coal-dust  there  are  always  floating 
about  in  the  London  atmosphere  —  that  his  life  would  be 
prolonged  by  remaining  in  London. 

"  On  this  point  I  am  somewhat  of  a  Cockney,"  he  would 
say:  "'I  believe  in  London  air  and  London  living.  It  is 
my  intention  to  revisit  America ;  but  I  shall  return  to 
England." 

And  he  did  return  to  England,  leaving  his  family  and 

217 


218  THE  LIFE   OF  GEORGE  PEABODY. 

friends  to  feel  that  he  had  spoken  to  them  his  last  fare- 
well.    He  was  to  be  seen  no  more  in  America. 

"  Mr.  Peabody  was  slightly  above  the  medium  height. 
His  full,  round  face  beamed  with  goodness.  He  laughed 
seldom,  but  had  a  smile  for  everybody.  There  was  noth- 
ing ideal  or  poetical  about  his  face  :  it  was  what  we  tritely 
term  '  a  good  face.'  He  never  spoke  hurriedly.  His  na- 
ture was  not  impulsive." 

But,  having  resolved,  he  carried  out  his  purpose  ;  and  to 
England,  though  feeble  and  worn,  "  The  Scotia  "  carried 
him.  Col.  Forney  has  already  described  his  appearance 
on  the  voyage.  His  friends  say  that  he  always  preferred 
English  steamers,  believing  them  to  be  more  safe. 

"The  Baltimore  Sun"  gives  an  interesting  memoran- 
dum  of  a  conversation  with  Mr.  Peabody,  furnished  by 
Dr.  J.  J.  Moorman,  a  resident  physician  of  White  Sul- 
phur Springs,  Va. ;  whither  Mr.  Peabody  went  for  his 
health  during  his  last  visit  to  America.  Dr.  Moorman 
says,  Aug.  22,  1869,— 

"  During  my  professional  attendance  on  Mr.  Peabody 
for  the  last  four  weeks,  I  have  had  various  short  but  inter- 
esting conversations  with  him  on  general  subjects,  and 
to-day  a  more  lengthy  one.  I  note  down  some  of  his  re- 
marks, for  future  reference. 

"  On  my  observing  to  him  that  he  had  great  cause  of 
gratitude  to  God  for  having  been  made  the  instrument  of 
doing  so  much  for  his  fellow-men,  Mr.  Peabody  replied,  and 


RETURN   TO   ENGLAND.  219 

with  much  more  than  usual  animation, 4 1  never  fail  to  take 
that  view  of  it ;  and  always,  in  my  prayers,  thank  God  that 
he  has  enabled  me  to  do  what  I  have  done.'  He  said  that 
the  attention  he  receives  from  the  world,  seemed  strange 
to  him  ;  c  that  he  feels  himself  to  be  a  very  humble  indi- 
vidual, and  is  enabled  only  by  the  attentions  and  opinions 
of  the  world  in  reference  to  his  acts  to  regard  himself  as 
differing  from  others.' 

"  On  my  expressing  the  opinion  that  not  the  least  of 
the  great  benefits  that  would  result  from  the  liberal  distri- 
bution of  his  large  wealth  during  his  lifetime,  for  charita- 
ble objects,  would  be  the  representative  character  of  such 
a  course,  inducing  other  men  of  wealth  to  do  likewise,  he 
said  he  assented  to  the  sentiment ;  and  then  remarked, 
'  Such  may  not  be  the  case  during  my  life,  as  men  do  not 
generally  like  to  seem  to  be  influenced  by  their  contempo- 
raries ;  '  but  added,  4 1  hope  and  expect  such  an  ultimate 
result.' 

"  I  observed  to  him  that  the  fact  of  his  not  having  for- 
gotten his  relations  in  the  distribution  of  his  large  estate, 
gave,  in  my  opinion,  a  beautiful  symmetry  to  his  benevo- 
lence. He  said,  4  Yes  ;  I  should  have  thought  I  was  doing 
very  wrong  if  I  had  done  so  : '  and  then  remarked, '  I  have 
made  all  my  near  relations  rich.  I  have  given  them  all 
enough,  —  perhaps  more  than  enough.'  He  then  stated 
the  amount  he  had  given  to  each,  —  to  Mr.  George  Pea- 
body  Russell,  three  hundred  thousand  dollars ;  to  a  sister, 
three  hundred  thousand  dollars ;  to  another  nephew,  three 


220  THE   LIFE   OF  GEORGE   PEABODY. 

hundred  thousand  dollars  ;  to  another,  two  hundred  thou- 
sand dollars ;  and  to  none  less  than  one  hundred  thousand 
dollars. 

"  Mr.  Peabody  described  the  character,  and  wfiat  would 
be  the  operations,  of  his  great  gift  for  the  poor  of  London ; 
contrasted  it  with  other  great  schemes  that  had  been  in- 
augurated for  the  benefit  of  that  class,  that  contained  im- 
portant reservations  for  the  benefit  of  the  families  of  the 
donors,  while  in  his  case  he  had  entirely  divested  himself 
and  his  heirs  of  any  ulterior  benefit  that  might  accrue  ; 
and  said,  that,  if  the  donation  alluded  to  was  'judiciously 
managed  for  two  centuries,  its  accumulations  would  amount 
to  a  sum  sufficient  to  buy  the  city  of  London.' 

"  Mr.  Peabody  was  evidently  much  and  very  properly 
gratified  at  the  great  attention  paid  to  him  both  in  Eng- 
land and  in  this  country  ;  and  especially  with  the  London 
statue,  and  its  unveiling  under  circumstances  so  imposing 
and  so  honorable  to  him ;  and  with  the  Queen's  autograph- 
letter  to  him,  which  he  showed  me. 

"  It  being  absolutely  necessary  for  Mr.  Peabody  to 
reach  a  warm  climate  before  cold  weather  set  in,  that  he 
might  have  the  slightest  chance  of  lengthening  his  days, 
and  his  mind  being  somewhat  balanced  between  Florida 
and  the  south  of  France,  he  formally  submitted  it  to  me, 
as  his  physician,  to  decide  the  question.  In  comparing  all 
the  advantages  and  disadvantages  of  the  two  places  for  his 
winter  residence,  I  preferred  the  south  of  France,  and  the 


RETURN  TO   ENGLAND.  221 

city  of  Nice  ;  and  advised  that  he  should  proceed  directly 
there,  and  with  as  little  delay  as  possible  after  leaving  the 
mountains.  He  adopted  my  views  promptly  arid  entirely 
upon  the  subject,  and  immediately  wrote  to  secure  a  pas- 
sage on  a  steamer  to  sail  the  28th  of  September ;  saying  to 
me,  he  would  remain  a  few  days  only  with  a  friend  in 
London  to  attend  to  some  necessary  business,  and  then 
proceed  'directly,  by  a  route  which  he  pointed  out,  to 
Nice,  so  as  to  reach  there  before  the  setting-in  of  cold 
weather." 

But  it  was  too  late.  The  days  of  "  the  philanthropist 
of  two  worlds  "  were  numbered,  and  his  friends  all  felt 
this;  so  that  his  last  public  visit  to  Peabody,  Mass.,  is  thus 
described  :  — 

u  The  last  visit  of  a  public  character  which  Mr.  Pea- 
body  made  to  his  native  town  was  in  the  summer  of  1869, 
when  he  invited  a  number  of  personal  friends,  and  several 
of  the  trustees  of  his  various  charities,  to  meet  him  at  the 
Peabody  Institute.  An  elegant  lunch  was  served  in  the 
library,  and  the  treasures  of  the  Institute  exhibited. 
Among  the  distinguished  public  characters  present  on  that 
occasion  were  the  Hon.  Charles  Sumner,  Hon.  Robert  C. 
Winthrop,  Ex-Gov.  Clifford,  Oliver  Wendell  Holmes,  and 
others.  Wealth  was  represented  by  such  heavy  weights 
as  James  M.  Beebe  and  Stephen  Salisbury.  The  aggre- 
gate wealth  of  the  twenty  or  thirty  gentlemen  who  were 
entertained  at  that  board  was  said  to  be  fiftv  million  dol- 


222  THE   LIFE   OF   GEORGE   PEABODY. 

lars.  Brief  remarks  were  made  by  several  of  the  guests ; 
and  Mr.  Holmes  read  a  short  poem,  which  was  afterwards 
published.  Later  in  the  day,  the  party  visited  the  Pea- 
body  Institute  at  Danvers.  It  was  not  a  day  of  unalloyed 
pleasure.  Mr.  Peabody's  health  was  rapidly  declining ; 
and  the  thought  must  have  been  suggested  to  all  his 
guests,  that  the  occasion  must  be  to  some,  and  might  be 
to  all,  the  last  time  they  would  partake  of  his  elegant 
hospitality,  or  witness  his  participation  in  the  only  happi- 
ness which  survives  health  and  the  ordinary  blessings  of 
life,  —  the  happiness  which  is  the  reward  of  unselfish 
devotion  in  the  service  of  mankind.  It  was  on  that 
occasion  that  he  made  his  final  gift  of  fifty  thousand  dollars 
to  the  original  Peabody  Institute." 

Mr.  Peabody  never  "  kept  house,"  but  usually,  when  in 
London,  dwelt  in  furnished  lodgings,  or  made  his  home  at 
the  elegant  residence  of  his  friend  and  business-associate, 
Sir  Curtis  Lampson,  an  American,  who,  for  his  commen- 
datory course  in  reference  to  the  Atlantic  cable,  was 
knighted  by  the  Queen. 


CHAPTER    XVI. 

DEATH    OF    MR.    PEABODY. 

The  Lightning  News.  —  The  Comments  of  the  Press. —  Respect  shown  to 
Mr.  Peabody's  Memory.  —  Portraits  of  Mr.  Peabody. 

"  So  live,  that,  when  thy  summons  comes  to  join 
The  innumerable  caravan  that  moves 
To  that  mysterious  realm  where  each  shall  take 
His  chamber  in  the  silent  halls  of  death, 
Thou  go  not  like  the  quarry-slave -at  night 
Scourged  to  his  dungeon ;  but,  sustained  and  soothed 
By  an  unfaltering  trust,  approach  thy  grave 
Like  one  that  draws  the  drapery  of  his  couch 
About  him,  and  lies  down  to  pleasant  dreams." 

Bryant's  Thanatopsis. 
11  And  as  we  have  borne  the  image  of  the  earthy,  we  shall  also  bear  the  image  of  the 
heavenly."  —  1  Cor.  xv.  49. 

ggjJ8|||§CROSS  the  British  cable,  at  the  midnight 
hour,  there  came  a  solemn  message.  "George 
Peabody  is  dead  !  "  was  the  report.  The  light- 
ning news  flies  rapidly ;  and,  before  many 
hours,  America  had  learned,  from  east  to  west,  from 
north  to  south,  that  the  man  who  had  given  away  so 
many  millions  while  he  lived  had  gone  to  that  world 
where  dollars  are  no  longer  needed,  but  where  he  would 

223 


224  THE   LIFE   OF   GEORGE  PEABODY. 

find  that  the  money  given  away  judiciously  is  really 
saved. 

"  London,  4th,  midnight.  —  George  Peahody  died  at 
half-past  eleven  o'clock  to-night,  at  his  residence  in  this 
city,"  was  the  telegram.  And  forthwith  the  newspapers 
of  England  and  America  vied  with  each  other  in  furnish- 
ing biographical  sketches  of  the  departed,  with  illustrations 
showing  his  well-known  lineaments  or  the  plaice  of  his 
birth.  The  name  which  Victoria  wrote  sounded  from  the 
lips  of  the  little  newsboy  as  he  besought  the  wayfarer  to 
learn  the  latest  intelligence.  The  London  papers  were 
filled  with  expressions  of  mingled  regret  and  respect. 
"  The  London  Times  "  said,  — 

"  The  news  of  Mr.  Peabody's  death  will  be  received 
with  no  common  sorrow  on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic. 
The  sentiment  of  regret  will  not  be  a  mere  passing  tribute 
of  gratitude  to  a  munificent  benefactor.  Mr.  Peabody, 
through  a  long  life,  accumulated  manifold  titles  to  be 
lamented.  He  was  an  ardent  patriot,  and  loved  abroad  as 
much  as  at  home.  He  was  no  courtier ;  yet  he  was  hon- 
ored by  sovereigns  and  princes.  He  was  profuse  in  his 
charity,  which  pauperized  nobody.  He  was  a  philanthro- 
pist, who  was  liked  as  well  as  honored.  There  was  noth- 
ing hard  or  narrow  about  his  philanthropy.  He  simply 
did  whatever  good  came  in  his  way." 

"The  Post,"  in  its  obituary  article,  said;  "Mr.  Peabody 
was  one  of  the  few  whose  private  virtues  are  followed  by 
public  fame,  and  whose  virtues  may  be  cited  as  examples. 


DEATH   OF  MR.   PEABODY.  225 

In  laying  the  foundation  of  wholesome  and  cheerful  homes 
for  the  working-classes,  he  acted  upon  a  high  sense  of 
duty,  and  touched  the  mainspring  of  civilization.  He 
made  his  means  the  measure  of  his  philanthropy. 
Throughout  his  whole  life,  his  conduct  displayed  a  purity 
of  character  that  could  not  fail  to  elevate  and  refine  the 
feelings  his  generosity  inspired." 

"  The  Telegraph "  said,  "  Mr.  Peabody's  lot  was 
doubly  happy.  The  inscription  on  his  mausoleum  may 
tell,  with  unquestioned  truth,  of  the  man  who  loved  his 
kind,  and  served  two  countries." 

"  The  Daily  News"  said,  "Mr.  Peabody  was  not  a  man 
of  impulsive,  emotional  benevolence,  but  rather  of  judi- 
cious, widely-spread  beneficence.  His  liberality  was  not 
posthumous.  He  gave  from  his  own  substance,  and  did 
not  surrender  what  death  wrested  from  him.  His  services 
both  to  his  native  and  adopted  country  were  fittingly  and 
graciously  recognized  in  royal  letters  and  the  thanks  of 
Congress.  Merchants,  in  passing  his  statue  daily,  do  not 
need  to  learn  from  the  consummate  man  of  business  how 
to  gain  money  :  his  career  may  teach  them  how  it  may 
be  wisely  spent." 

The  governor  of  his  native  State  did  not  fail  to  recog- 
nize the  claim  of  Mr.  Peabody  to  honorable  mention  in 
his  inaugural  address ;  and,  after  saying  that  he  should  do 
injustice  to  his  own  feelings  if  he  did  not  notice  his  de- 
parture, Gov.  Clafiin  went  on  to  say, — 

"  George  Peabody  has  been  a  faithful  representative  of 

15 


226  THE   LIFE   OF   GEORGE   PEABODY. 

the  people  of  his  state  and  nation  in  a  foreign  land.  His 
personal  character  and  commercial  success  would  command 
respect  anywhere ;  but  the  nobleness  of  his  nature,  which 
led  him  to  make  such  munificent  and  princely  gifts  for  the 
benefit  of  his  fellow-men  in  both  hemispheres,  without  re- 
gard to  rank  or  color,  has  given  him  world-wide  fame,  and 
no  title  could  add  lustre  to  his  name.  His  remains  are  to 
rest  in  the  soil  of  his  native  State,  whose  people  will  ever 
honor  him  as  the  benefactor  of  his  race.  His  influence 
survives  him  in  the  noble  institutions  which  he  founded; 
and  generations  yet  unborn  will  bless  his  name  and  revere 
his  memory." 

The  doors  of  the  Peabody  Academy  of  Science  in  Sa- 
lem were  draped  in  mourning,  and  the  following  resolu- 
tions at  once  passed  :  — 

"  Resolved,  That  the  trustees  of  the  Peabody  Academy 
of  Science  recognize  in  the  death  of  the  distinguished 
founder  of  this  academy  the  termination  of  a  life  actuated 
by  a  noble  ambition  to  benefit  and  instruct  mankind. 

"  Resolved,  That  here  in  his  native  county,  among  the 
many  noble  institutions  he  has  founded,  we  are  keenly  sen- 
sible of  the  greatness  of  his  work,  and  the  magnitude  of 
our  loss  ;  yet  a  fame  so  pure  and  a  life  so  good  leave 
nothing  to  be  said  in  praise. 

^Resolved,  That,  while  the  people  of  two  continents 
are  paying  their  tributes  to  his  memory,  we  tender  our 
sympathies  to  his    kindred  and  friends  in  their  bereave- 


DEATH  OF  MR.    PEABODY.  227 

ment ;  and  rejoice  that  his  life  was  prolonged  to  witness  so 
much  good  accomplished  by  his  wise  and  munificent  chari- 
ties, and  the  assurance  of  their  great  future  usefulness. 

"Resolved,  That  the  president  be  instructed,  in  behalf 
of  the  trustees,  to  co-operate  with  other  institutions  in  pav- 
ing proper  respect  to  the  memory  of  Mr.  Peabody,  and  in 
making  tire  necessary  preparations  for  his  funeral. 

"  Resolved,  That  a  copy  of  these  resolutions  be  sent  to 
the  immediate  relatives  of  the  deceased." 

The  Legislature  of  Massachusetts  did  not  fail  to  notice 
Mr.  Peabody's  departure,  and  paid  due  respect  to  his 
memory  by  the  following  resolutions  :  — 

;'  Resolved,  That  the  Legislature  of  Massachusetts  re- 
ceives with  deep  regret  the  intelligence  of  the  death  of 
George  Peabody,  who,  by  the  rare  simplicity  of  his  life, 
his  constant  and  untiring  industry,  his  upright  and  honor- 
able career  as  a  merchant,  his  broad  and  liberal  charities 
as  a  philanthropist,  and  his  steady  devotion  to  republican 
principles,  whether  at  home  or  abroad,  has  won  for  him- 
self the  admiration  of  his  countrymen,  and  left  his  life  and 
character  to  future  generations  as  a  model  of  the  true 
American  citizen. 

"  Resolved,  That  the  unusual  sagacity  which  prompted 
him  to  become  the  executor  of  his  own  estate,  and,  while 
living,  to  distribute  his  vast  means  in  a  way  to  bless  the 
ignorant,  degraded,  and  needy  for  all  time  to  come,  de- 
serves especial  approbation  ;  while  the  still  more  remarka- 


228  THE  LIFE   OF  GEORGE  PEABODY. 

ble  spirit  of  catholicity  which  pervaded  all  his  acts  of 
benevolence  entitle  him  to  the  grateful  praises  of  all  the 
people. 

"  Resolved^  That  a  joint  special  committee,  consisting 
of  five  on  the  part  of  the  Senate,  and  ten  on  the  part  of 
the  House,  be  appointed  to  attend  the  funeral  of  the  de- 
ceased, as  a  special  tribute  to  his  memory  in  behalf  of  the 
Commonwealth. 

"  Resolved^  That  his  Excellency  the  Governor  be  re- 
quested to  cause  a  certified  copy  of  these  resolutions  to  be 
forwarded  to  the  family  of  the  deceased. 

"  Resolved^  That,  as  an  additional  testimonial  of  its  re- 
spect, each  House  do  now  adjourn." 

Resolutions  of  a  similar  character  were  passed  by  vari- 
ous cities,  towns,  states,  and  by  Congress  itself.  Salem 
thus  testified  her  respect :  — 

'-'•Whereas  The  death  of  George  Peabody  has  been 
an  occasion  of  grief  to  two  continents,  —  his  remains  be- 
ing now  brought  to  this  country  under  distinguished  hon- 
ors ;  and  whereas  we  desire  to  place  upon  record  some 
testimonial  of  our  respect  for  this  distinguished  philanthro- 
pist:  therefore  be  it 

u  Resolved^  That  in  the  death  of  George  Peabody  the 
world  has  lost  a  benefactor,  the  nation  a  citizen  whose  acts 
of  benevolence  have  reflected  honor  upon  his  native  coun- 
try, and  our  city  one  who  has  honored  his  place  of  resi- 
dence by  the  foundation  of  a  most  useful  Academy  of 
Science. 


DEATH  OF  MR.   PEABODY.  229 

"  Resolved,  That  the  City  Council  will  signify  its  appre- 
ciation of  the  distinguished  and  noble  services  of  the  de- 
ceased by  attending  his  funeral  in  a  body. 

"  Resolved,  That  these  resolutions  be  entered  in  full 
upon  the  records  of  the  City  Council,  and  that  a  copy  of 
them  be  transmitted  to  the  family  of  the  deceased." 

Peabody  passed  the  following  resolutions  :  — 

"At  a  meeting  of  the  citizens  of  Peabody,  held  last 
evening,  to  take  action  in  regard  to  the  funeral  obsequies 
of  the  late  George  Peabody,  Lewis  Allen,  moderator, 
Hon.  Benjamin  C.  Perkins  offered  the  following  resolu- 
tions, which  were  adopted :  — 

"  Resolved,  That  we,  the  citizens  of  the  birthplace  of 
George  Peabody,  deeply  sympathize  in  the  emotions  of 
sorrow,  veneration,  and  love,  which,  on  both  continents, 
have  been  occasioned  by  the  death  of  the  philanthropist 
of  the  age. 

"  Resolved,  That  our  memories  associated  with  his  life 
are  personal  as  well  as  public.  Here  was  his  birthplace, 
and  the  home  of  his  childhood ;  here  was  his  first  public 
endowment  of  the  Institute  which  bears  his  name,  and 
which  will  speak  to  generations  to  come  of  the  love  he 
bore  to  his  native  town.  To  us  he  has  confided  the  cus- 
tody of  those  sacred  relics  which  were  dear  to  him  as 
tokens  of  the  gratitude  of  both  his  native  and  adopted 
countries. 

"  Resolved,  That  the  munificent  endowments  of  institu- 


230  THE  LIFE  OF   GEORGE  PEABODY. 

tions  of  science  and  learning  bear  the  impress  of  the  im- 
mortal maxim  which  prompted  his  first  public  endowment 
in  this  town:  4  Education,  —  a  debt  from  the  present  to  fu- 
ture generations.'  Moved  by  the  principles  of  this  maxim, 
from  the  accumulations  of  his  industry  he  has  with  his 
own  hands  spread  the  table  to  which  he  has  invited  future 
generations  to  partake  of  '  the  treasures  of  science  and  the 
delights  of  learning.' 

"Resolved,  That,  while  we  mourn  his  death,  we  unite 
in  gratitude  to  God  that  he  has  given  the  world  such  a 
sample  of  practical  Christianity,  knowing  no  creed,  no 
sect,  no  party ;  and,  while  death  may  hide  from  us  the 
manly  form,  that  is  left  to  us  which  cannot  be  hidden, — 
his  great  example  of  wisdom  and  amiability,  which  will 
teach  the  world  that  he  who  seeks  fame  the  least  is  most 
sure  to  gain  it. 

"  Resolved,  That  we  deeply  sympathize  with  the  rela- 
tives of  Mr.  Peabody,  who  were  deprived  of  the  sad  pleas- 
ure of  performing  the  last  kind  offices. 

"  Resolved,  That  in  pursuance  of  the  last  wish  of  Mr. 
Peabody,  that  his  funeral  services  should  take  place  in  his 
native  town,  we  will  make  the  necessary  arrangements  for 
the  services  upon  the  arrival  of  his  remains ;  and  that  we 
choose  a  committee,  consisting  of  the  board  of  selectmen 
and  nine  others,  to  co-operate  with  the  trustees  of  the  Pea- 
body Institute,  with  full  powers  to  carry  into  effect  the 
object  of  these  resolutions. 

"  Resolved,  That  these  resolutions  be  placed  upon  the 


DEATH   OF  MR.    PEABODY.  231 

records  of  the  town,  and  that  copies  be  sent  to  the  near 
relatives  of  Mr.  Peabody." 

By  the  following,  it  will  be  seen  that  the  Congress  of  the 
United  States  also  noticed  suitably  the  departure  of  Mr. 
Peabody :  — 

"Public  Resolution,  No.  6. 

"  Joint  Resolution  of  Tribute  to  the  Memory  of  George  Pea- 
body, deceased. 

'•''Whereas,  In  the  death  of  George  Peabody,  a  native 
of  the  United  States,  and  late  a  resident  of  England,  our 
country  and  the  world  have  sustained  an  inestimable  loss ; 
and  whereas  the  Queen  of  Great  Britain,  the  authorities 
of  London,  and  the  Emperor  of  France,  have  made  ex- 
traordinary provision  for  the  transfer  of  his  remains  to  his 
native  land :  the  re  for  e- 

"  Be  it  resolved  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representa- 
tives of  the  United  States  of  America  in  Congress  assembled, 
That  the  President  of  the  United  States  be  authorized  to 
make  such  preparation  for  the  reception  of  the  body  of  our 
distinguished  philanthropist  as  is  merited  by  his  glorious 
deeds,  and  in  a  manner  commensurate  with  the  justice, 
magnanimity,  and  dignity  of  a  great  people. 

"  And  be  it  further  resolved,  That  the  expenses  incurred 
by  such  ceremonial  as  the  President  may  adopt  in  the 
premises  shall  be  paid  by  any  money  in  the  treasury  not 
otherwise  appropriated. 

*  Approved  Dec.  23,  1869." 


232  THE  LIFE  OF  GEOKGE   PEABODY. 

Portraits  of  Mr.  Peabody  became  at  once  in  great  de- 
mand;  and  engravings  and  photographs  of  the  rare  giver 
soon  multiplied.  One  published  by  B.  B.  Russell  of  Bos- 
ton has  received  the  commendation  of  Mr.  Peabody's 
relatives  and  friends,  and  is  adorning  many  homes  where 
his  name  is  honored. 


CHAPTER    XVII. 

FUNERAL      IN       ENGLAND. 

Westminster  Abbey.  —  Transportation  of  the  Remains  to  America.  —  De- 
scription of  the  Ship  "  Monarch."  —  Poem  suggested  by  the  Funeral 
Procession  on  the  Ocean. 

"  All  flesh  is  grass,  and  all  its  glory  fades 
Like  the  fair  flower  dishevelled  in  the  wind ; 
Riches  have  wings,  and  grandeur  is  a  dream  : 
The  man  we  celebrate  must  find  a  tomb."  — Cowper. 

"  A  good  name  is  rather  to  be  chosen  than  great  riches,  and  loving  favor  rather  than 
silver  and  gold."  — PROV.  xxii.  1. 

>R.  PEABODY'S  remains  were  embalmed ;  as 
it  was  his  desire  that  his  remains  should  be 
conveyed  to  America,  to  be  laid  in  the  tomb 
which  he  had  built  at  Dan  vers,  and  in  which 
he  had  placed  the  body  of  his  mother.  But  his  executors 
—  Sir  Curtis  Lampson,  and  Mr.  C.  Reed,  M.P.  —  complied 
with  the  public  wish  to  let  a  funeral-service  be  performed 
over  his  coffin  in  Westminster  Abbey  before  its  removal. 
This  ceremony,  which  took  place  on  Friday  week,  was 
attended  with  no  extraordinary  pomp,  saving  the  presence 
of  the  lord-mayQr  and  sheriffs  in  their  official  robes,  and 
the  number  of  carriages,  including  those  of  the  Queen 

233 


234  THE   LIFE   OF   GEORGE   FEABODY. 

and  Prince  of  Wales,  that  followed  the  hearse  from  Eaton 
Square.  But  the  Prime  Minister  and  the  Secretary  of 
State  for  Foreign  Affairs  were  also  present  among  the 
mourners ;  and  Gen.  Grey,  as  representative  of  her 
Majesty.  The  interior  of  the  abbey  was  crowded  in 
every  part  by  a  silent  and  sympathizing  congregation, 
most  of  whom  wore  mourning  apparel.  The  multitude 
outside,  in  Broad  Sanctuary  and  Victoria  Street,  consisting 
chiefly  of  workmen's  wives  and  other  poor  women,  seemed 
equally  impressed  with  the  feeling  of  the  occasion. 

The  coffin,  which  was  covered  in  black  velvet,  and 
surmounted  by  a  wreath  of  immortelles,  was  carried  bv 
ten  men,  and  deposited  on  a  stage  in  front  of  the  steps 
leading  up  to  the  altar.  The  mourners  took  their  places 
on  seats  reserved  for  them  on  each  side  of  the  sacra- 
rium ;  and  inside  the  rails  of  the  communion-table  were 
seated  the  lord-mayor,  sheriffs,  and  under-sheriffs,  together 
with  Mr.  Gladstone  and  the  Earl  of  Clarendon,  and  Gen. 
Grey  in  private  dress,  as  the  representative  of  her  ^Ma- 
jesty. The  "  Sentences,"  "  I  am  the  Resurrection,"  hav- 
ing been  sung,  and  the  ninetieth  Psalm,  "  Lord,  thou  hast 
been  our  refuge,"  having  been  chanted  by  the  choir, 
Archdeacon  Jennings  read  the  Lesson  from  1  Cor.  xv. 
The  Lesson  ended,  the  funeral  procession  was  resumed ; 
and,  while  an  anthem  was  sung,  the  coffin  was  carried 
back,  as  before,  into  the  nave,  and  placed  by  the  side  of 
an  opening  three  feet  deep,  into  which  it  was  lowered, 
the  service  at  the  grave  being  read  by  the  sub-dean,  the 


FUNERAL  IN  ENGLAND.  235 

Rev.  Lord  John  Thynne.  At  the  conclusion  of  the  ser- 
vice, the  "  Dead  March  in  Saul  "  was  played  on  the 
organ ;  while  the  mourners  one  after  another  stepped  for- 
ward to  take  a  parting  look  at  the  coffin  as  it  lay  in  its 
shallow  receptacle,  near  the  third  arch  from  the  western 
door  of  the  nave.  The  coffin-lid  bore  the  following 
inscription  :  — 

"  George  Peabody,  born  at  Danvers,  Mass.,  Feb.  18,  1795.     Died 
in  London,  England,  Nov.  4,  1869." 

The  Bishop  of  London  preached  a  funeral  sermon  in 
the  abbey  on  Sunday  morning. 

The  honors  to  Mr.  Peabody  on  both  sides  of  the  Atlan- 
tic are  as  unusual  and  unparalleled  in  the  case  of  a  pri- 
vate individual  as  are  exceptional  the  magnificent  acts  of 
benevolence  which  illustrated  the  life  of  this  great  philan- 
thropist. It  was  a  worthy  idea,  first  suggested  by  "  The 
London  Telegraph,"  to  convey  the  remains  of  Mr.  Pea- 
body to  his  native  country  in  the  first  war-vessel  of  the 
United  Kingdom.     "  The  Losdon  Telegraph  "  says, — 

"  The  rarely  paralleled  honor  of  sending  a  Queen's 
ship  as  the  i  funeral-barge  '  of  George  Peabody  will  be 
enhanced  by  the  selection  of  perhaps  the  noblest  vessel 
at  her  Majesty's  disposal ;  and  he  who  began  life  as  a 
grocer's  boy  will  be  borne  to  his  transatlantic  grave  on  as 
proud  a  bier  as  any  dead  king  could  have.  The  people 
of   England  will  thank  and  applaud  their  sovereign  and 


236  THE   LIFE  OF   GEOKGE  PEABODY. 

her  government  for  this  last  and  crowning  recognition 
of  the  noble-hearted  giver,  whose  inexhaustible  love  for 
his  race  has  revived  the  almost  forgotten  standard  of  per- 
fect charity.  The  people  of  the  United  States,  too,  will 
solemnly  welcome  to  their  shores  the  stately  vessel  which 
brings  to  them  these  sacred  relics  ;  seeing,  in  her,  proof 
that  we  have  regarded  George  Peabody  as  an  ambassador 
of  peace  and  unity  between  the  Anglo-Saxon  nations  as 
well  as  a  common  benefactor,  and  that  we  restore  to 
America  the  body  of  such  an  envoy  with  the  insignia 
which  become  his  grand  commission  and  high  moral 
embassage. 

"It  is  not  possible  to  put  these  feelings  into  more  majes- 
tic or  more  emphatic  language  than  will  be  conveyed  by 
the  spectacle  of  our  great  war-ship's  arrival  beyond  the 
ocean,  bearing  this  honored  corpse.  Words  are  easily 
written  and  spoken ;  but  acts  make  history,  and  reach  the 
hearts  of  men  through  their  eyesight.  And  the  eyes  of 
the  whole  world,  in  a  sense,  will  be  directed  upon  this 
new  employment  of  a  first-rate  ship-of-war.  Humanity 
will  note  the  weighing  of  that  stern  liner's  anchor,  with 
that  novel  freight  of  a  trader's  coffin  ;  humanity  will  fol- 
low the  passage  of  the  swift  engine  of  war  across  the 
billows  upon  her  unaccustomed  mission  of  peace  and 
sad  courtesy ;  and  humanity  will  watch  the  reception  of 
the  superb  chief  mourner  in  the  waters  of  the  Western 
Republic.  There  has  never  really  been  paid,  within  the 
memory  of  man,  so  pure  a  tribute  to  virtue  and  to  worth, 


FUNERAL  IN  ENGLAND.  237 

apart  from  all  those  considerations  which  usually  govern 
the  attribution  of  national  homage. 

"  It  is  true  that  the  benefactions  of  the  generous  Amer- 
ican were  such  and  so  great,  that,  by  their  mere  amount, 
he  had  made  two  empires  his  debtors.  But  the  perfect 
loving-kindness,  and  unstained  integrity  and  benevolence, 
with  which  he  gave  away  his  gold  to  house  and  to  teach 
the  poor,  sank  into  the  hearts  of  his  fellow-countrymen  on 
both  sides  of  the  Atlantic  more  deeply  than  the  weight  of 
the  gold  itself  would  have  done.  He  made  his  magnifi- 
cent gifts  richer  by  the  simplicity  and  sincerity  of  his 
giving  ;  and,  being  dead,  we  now  carry  him  back  to  rest 
among  his  own  kindred,  as  not  only  the  friend,  bat  also 
the  noble  examplar,  of  the  two  empires.  Sailors  usually 
object  to  convey  the  dead  on  board  their  ships  ;  but  there 
will  be  no  such  feeling  on  the  present  occasion.  If  any 
burden  could  be  honorable  to  carry,  if  any  freight  could 
hallow  and  protect  a  vessel  upon  the  sea,  it  would  be  the 
mortal  remains  of  George  Peabody,  who  was  the  brother 
and  the  friend  of  every  one  that  speaks  English,  and  such 
a  man  as,  living  or  dead,  it  was  and  is  good  to  have  to  do 
with. 

"  There  will  be  left  for  us  in  England  only  the  memory 
of  the  generous  gentleman,  when  our  mourning  man-of- 
war  sets  sail  and  steers  for  the  lights  of  Portland  harbor. 
But  they  who  watch  for  the  Queen's  ship  upon  the  other 
side  will  confess  that  we  have  done  all  that  we  could  do 
to  make  that  memory  green  and  beautiful  among  our  chil- 


238  THE   LIFE   OF   GEOKGE   PEABODY. 

dren,  and  to  pay  the  princely  merchant  all  imaginable 
respect.  They  will  have  read,  before  the  majestic  vessel 
approaches  their  coast,  how  tender  and  solicitous  the 
Queen  has  been  in  regard  to  Mr.  Peabody's  health  ;  how 
she  longed  to  see  him,  and  chat  c  quietly '  with  him  ;  how 
she  intended  to  call  at  his  London  home,  and  shake  hands 
with  '  her  friend,'  but  that  the  rapid  progress  of  the  fatal 
illness  made  it  impossible.  They  will  know,  too,  that, 
yesterday,  we  paid  to  his  relics  the  last  observances  of  the 
Christian  ritual  ;  nay,  at  the  very  time  when  the  organ 
was  pealing  the  Dead  March  through  the  columns  of  the 
abbey,  and  the  funeral-bells  were  rocking  in  its  tower, 
strains  of  melodious  mourning  and  sympathetic  knells  in 
the  cities  of  America  were  responding  across  the  expanse 
of  the  ocean.  They  will  have  heard  howT  we  gave  him, 
so  far  as  we  could  give,  those  obsequies  of  reverence  and 
regard  as  an  honor  reserved  for  the  greatest  among  our 
dead ;  nor  would  a  resting-place  in  the  ancient  abbey 
have  been  for  a  moment  denied  to  his  relics,  if  we  had 
had  the  right  to  lay  his  noble  dust  among  that  of  our 
worthies  and  onr  sovereigns.  But  the  dying  man  desired 
to  sleep  '  with  his  fathers ; '  and  America  has  the  indispu- 
table claim  to  enrich  her  soil  with  those  precious  remains  : 
so  that  it  was  only  left  to  the  Queen  and  to  the  people  of 
England  to  show,  with  '  maimed  rights '  and  such  signs  of 
affection  and  gratitude  as  were  possible,  what  was  thought 
of  the  Danvers  merchant  in  proud  and  aristocratic  Britain. 
When  they  reflect  in  Mr.  Peabody's  country  upon  what 


FUNERAL   IX  ENGLAND.  239 

we  have  done,  and  see  the  great  man-of-war  sail  into  port 
with  ensign  at  half-mast  and  minute-guns  firing,  they  will 
not  be  dissatisfied  with  us,  nor  sorry  that  George  Peabody 
breathed  his  last  among  the  English  half  of  his  fellow- 
citizens.  They  will  say  that  we  have  done  ourselves  and 
them  and  virtue  honor  in  thus  reverencing  the  consum- 
mate humanity  which  was  in  this  king  of  givers  ;  and  it 
will  happen,  as  we  have  said  before,  that  the  dead  body  of 
George  Peabody  will  complete  the  work  done  by  his  liv- 
ing hand  and  heart.  There  will  arise,  out  of  this  funeral 
voyage  of  the  Queen's  new  fighting-ship,  a  thought  calcu- 
lated to  take  the  trade  away  from  fighting-ships  altogether ; 
a  feeling  which  advances  civilization  with  a  voiceless 
charm  of  impulse.  Men  will  be  set  meditating,  on  both 
sides  of  the  Atlantic,  how  much  wiser,  better,  and  higher 
is  the  spirit  of  peace  than  the  spirit  of  war ;  how  strong 
must  be  that  spirit  of  peace  and  union  which  can  control 
men  even  from  the  shroud  and  the  cerements ;  and, 
above  all,  how  shameful  and  strange  in  the  eyes  of  civili- 
zation the  spectacle  would  be,  if  the  land  that  sent  home 
George  Peabody's  remains,  and  the  land  which  received 
'  the  noble  heart  that  beats  no  more,'  should  ever  again 
bandy  words  of  menace  and  hatred." 

Among  the  tributes  early  paid  to  Mr.  Peabody's  mem- 
ory were  those  of  Louis  Blanc  and  Victor  Hugo.  The 
following  is  an  extract  from  Victor  Hugo's  letter,  published 
in  "  The  London  Times  :  "  — 


240  THE  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  PEABODY. 

"Hauteville,  Dec.  2,  1869. 

"  Monsieur,  —  Your  letter  came  to  me  Dec.  2.  I 
thank  you.  It  brings  me  to  this  souvenir.  I  forget  the 
Empire,  and  think  of  America.  I  was  turned  toward 
night :  I  turn  toward  the  day.  You  ask  a  word  from  me 
on  George  Peabody.  In  your  sympathetic  illusion,  you 
believe  me  to  be  what  I  am  not,  —  a  voice  from  France. 
I  am,  I  have  said  before,  but  a  voice  from  exile.  No 
matter,  monsieur  :  a  noble  appeal  like  yours  can  be  heard. 
Little  as  I  am,  I  ought  to  respond,  and  do  so. 

"  Yes,  America  has  reason  to  be  proud  of  this  great 
citizen  of  the  world  and  great  brother  of  all  men,  — 
George  Peabody.  Peabody  has  been  a  happy  man  who 
would  suffer  in  all  sufferings,  a  rich  man  who  would  feel 
the  cold,  the  hunger,  and  thirst  of  the  poor.  Having  a 
place  near  Rothschild,  he  found  means  to  charge  it  for 
one  near  Vincent  de  Paul.  Like  Jesus  Christ,  he  had  a 
wound  in  the  side  :  this  wound  was  the  misery  of  others. 
It  was  not  blood  flowed  from  this  wound  :  it  was  gold 
which  now  came  from  a  heart. 

"  On  this  earth  there  are  men  of  hate  and  men  of 
love  :  Peabody  was  one  of  the  latter.  It  is  on  the  face 
of  these  men  that  we  can  see  the  smile  of  God.  What 
law  do  they  practise  ?  One  alone,  —  the  law  of  frater- 
nity, divine  law,  humane  law  ;  which  varies  the  relief 
according  to  the  distress  ;  which  here  gives  precepts,  and 
there  gives  millions  ;  and  traces  through  the  centuries  in 
our  darkness  a  train  of  light,  and  extends  from  Jesus  poor 
to  Peabody  wealthy. 


FUNERAL  IN  ENGLAND.  241 

"  May  Peabody  return  to  you,  blessed  by  us !  Our 
world  envies  yours.  His  fatherland  will  guard  his  ashes, 
and  our  hearts  his  memory.  May  the  moving  immensity 
of  the  seas  bear  him  to  you !  The  free  American  flag 
can  never  display  enough  stars  above  his  coffin." 

"  The  Times  "  also  published  the  following  :  — 

"London,  Dec.  9,  1869. 

"  Sir,  ■*—  The  death  of  so  good  a  man  as  George  Pea- 
body  proved  himself  to  be  is  a  public  calamity,  in  which 
the  whole  civilized  world  ought  to  share.  I  feel,  there- 
fore, in  duty  bound  to  express,  in  answer  to  your  appeal, 
how  deeply  I  mourn,  as  a  Frenchman  and  as  a  man,  for 
the  illustrious  American  whose  life  was  of  such  value  to 
the  most  needy  of  his  fellow-men. 

"  It  was  but  natural,  that  in  a  country  like  this,  where 
so  much  is  thought  of  long  lineage,  and  station  in  life, 
George  Peabody  should  receive,  as  the  only  fit  token  of 
public  gratitude,  the  same  kind  of  respect  which  is  paid  to 
kings,  princes,  and  men  of  noble  birth,  as  well  as  men  of 
noble  deeds  ;  and  that  his  mortal  remains  should  be  com- 
mitted to  a  temporary  resting-place  beneath*  the  nave  of 
Westminster  Abbey,  to  be  sent  afterward  in  a  ship-of-war 
to  iiis  native  land,  —  the  land  of  freedom.  Nor  is  there 
any  thing  to  complain  of  in  this  national  mode  of  testifying 
to  the  high  estimation  in  which  the  British  nation  held 
the  eminent  philanthropist.  Yet  I  cannot  help  lamenting 
that  there  should  be  for  men  of  that  stamp  no  particular 

16 


242  THE  LIFE  OF   GEORGE  PEABODY. 

sort  of  homage  better  calculated  to  show  how  little,  com- 
pared to  them,  are  most  of  kings,  princes,  noblemen, 
renowned  diplomatists,  world-famed  conquerors. 

"  It  was  not  the  kind-hearted  republican  trader  who 
was  honored  by  the  fact  of  being  consigned  to  rest  in 
Westminster  Abbey,  but  rather  those  who  were  consid- 
ered to  be  worthy  of  sleeping  there  their  last  sleep,  on 
account  of  their  rank,  not  of  their  virtue. 

"The  number  of  mourners  assembled  within •  the  pre- 
cincts of  the  sacred  edifice,  their  silent  sorrow,  the  tears 
shed  by  so  many,  and,  in  several  parts  of  London,  the 
readiness  of  the  shopkeepers  to  give  expression  to  their 
grief  by  closing  their  shops  and  lowering  their  blinds,  — 
these  were  the  homages  really  in  keeping  with  the  affec- 
tionate admiration  due  to  one  whose  title  in  history  will 
be  this  (the  highest  a  rich  man  can  aspire  to),— *  the 
friend  of  the  poor.  ♦ 

I  am,  sir,  obediently  yours, 

"  Louis  Blanc. 

"  Col.  Berton,  Chairman  American  Committee." 

For  want  of  space,  a  full  description  of  the  war-ship 
"  Monarch,"  in  which  Mr.  Peabody's  remains  were  for- 
warded to  America,  cannot  be  given.  Suffice  it  to  say,  tjjat 
it  was  one  of  the  largest  iron-plated  ships  in  the  English 
navy,  with  an  armament  of  nine  guns.  The  guns  in  "  The 
Monarch's  "  turrets  are  said  to  have  no  peers  on  land  or 
sea.     The  room  in  which  the  coffin  of  Mr.  Peabody  was 


FUNERAL  IN  ENGLAND.  243 

placed  was  appropriately  draped,  and  candles  were  kept 
burning  throughout  the  voyage.  "  The  Monarch  "  was 
convoyed  by  an  American  and  a  French  vessel  detailed 
for  that  service,  to  add  to"  the  honor  old  England  was 
conferring  on  the  man  who  gave  millions  away. 

"  The   Hearth    and    Home  "    published   the    following 
poem,  entitled 

THE    FUNERAL   FLEET. 

All  in  the  winter  silence, 

Rapt  with  a  sense  of  awe, — 
A  vision  half,  and  half  a  dream,  — 

This  was  the  sight  I  saw  :  — 

A  vision  of  the  sea, 

And  consort-vessels  two  : 
The  red  cross  on  the  flag  of  one ; 

And  the  other,  red,  white,  and  blue. 

No  ripple  at  the  prows, 

No  wake  of  shimmering  spray  : 
Like  cloudlets  white  in  the  pale  moonlight 

They  glided  on  their  way. 

Sentinels  paced  the  deck 

With  solemn  tread  and  still : 
"  Peace  "  was  the  watchword  that  they  gave  ; 

The  answering  word,  "  Good  will." 

An  angel  at  the  helm 

Stood,  all  in  garments  white  ; 
And  angels  hovered  o'er  the  keel, 

And  guided  through  the  night. 


2i4  THE   LIFE  OF   GEORGE   PEABODY. 

They  bring  no  crowned  king ; 

Theirs  is  a  holier  trust : 
They  bear  a  treasure  from  afar,  — 

A  good  man's  sacred  dust, 

Mourned  by  the  rich  he  taught, 
Mourned  by  the  poor  he  fed, 

Mourned  by  a  race  with  whom  he  broke 
A  nobler  food  than  bread. 

To  the  soil  that  gave  him  birth 
They  bring  him  for  his  rest : 

Blue  shall  his  native  violets  be 
Above  his  honored  breast. 

A  vision  of  the  sea, 

And  consort-vessels  two  : 
The  red  cross  on  the  flag  of  one; 

And  the  other,  red,  white,  and  blue. 

All  in  the  winter  silence, 
Rapt  with  a  sense  of  awe,  — 

A  vision  half,  and  half  a  dream,  — 
This  was  the  sight  I  saw. 


CHAPTER    XVIII. 

FUNERAL     IN      AMERICA. 

Reception  of  the  Remains  in  America.  —  The  Funeral  in  Harmony  Grove. 
—  Mr.  Winthrop's  Eulogy.  —  Prince  Arthur  of  England. 

"  Unrivalled  as  thy  merit  be  thy  fame." — Tickell. 

"  Glory,  honor,  and  peace  to  every  man  that  worketh  good,  *—  to  the  Jew  first,  and 

also  to  the  Gentile."  —  Rom.  ii.  10. 

IREAT  preparations  were  made  in  America  for 
the  reception  of  Mr.  Peabody's  remains.  Legis- 
latures adjourned  to  attend  in  a  body.  Pub- 
lic dignitaries  paid  due  respect  to  his  memory 
by  their  presence ;  and  private  individuals  thronged  the 
wharves  of  Portland  when  "  The  Monarch  "  arrived,  and 
attended  every  motion  of  the  body  towards  its  final  resting- 
place.  The  .following  poem  by  Howard  Glyndon  may  be 
taken  as  an  exponent  of  the  sentiment  of  Americans  who 
appreciated  the  noble  deeds  of  the  distinguished  dead :  it 
is  entitled  "  The  Comino-  of  the  Silent  Guest :  "  — 


a 


"  Lo !  England  sends  him  back  to  us, 
With  sealed  eyes  and  folded  palms  : 
He  drifts  across  the  wintry  sea, 

Which  chants  to  him  its  thousand  psalms. 

246 


246  THE  LIFE  OF   GEORGE   PEABODY. 

We  proudly  name  and  claim  him  ours  ; 

We  take  him,  England,  from  thy  breast ; 
We  open  wide  our  doors  to  him 

Who  cometh  home  a  silent  guest. 

We  lent  him  thee  to  teach  thy  sons 

The  lesson  of  the  Open  Hand, 
Lest  famished  lips  should  bless  them  less 

Than  him,  —  the  stranger  in  their  land. 

We  lent  him,  living,  unto  thee, 

To  be  a  solace  to  thy  pain ; 
But  now  we  want  his  noble  dust, 

To  consecrate  it  ours  again. 

England,  we  take  him  from  thine  arms ; 

We  thank  thee  for  thy  reverent  care  : 
If  thou  and  we  were  ever  friends, 

We  should  be  so  beside  his  bier. 

His  memory  should  be  a  spell 

To  banish  spleen  and  bitterness. 
Have  kindlier  thoughts  of  us,  — for  he 

Was  tender  unto  thy  distress,  — 

As  we  have  kindlier  thoughts  of  thee 

Because  of  honor  done  to  him  ; 
For,  while  we  weep,  we  turn  to  see 

That  English  eyes  with  tears  are  dim." 

Space  forbids  that  much  should  be  said  concerning  .the 
reception  of  the  honored  remains.  They  were  removed 
to  the  City  Hall  in  Portland,  and  lay  in  state  there,  and 
afterwards  in  the  town  of  Peabody,  visited  by  thousands, 
who  could  see  only,  however,  the  catafalque  and  its  sur- 
roundings.    Sentinels  were  on  guard,  and  every  possible 


FUNERAL  IN  AMERICA.  247 

honor  paid  by  all  to  the  memory  of  the  departed.     Cars 
were  fitted  by  the  Eastern-Railroad  Company  with  special 
reference  to  the  funeral ;  and  bells  rang  while  minute-guns 
pealed  at  his  funeral  in  Danvers  (or  Peabody,  as  it  is  now 
called).     According  to  "  Zion's   Herald,"   "The   church 
exercises  were  impressive,  if  not  solemn.     Draped  walls ; 
lamps  dimly  burning;    high  pulpit,  looking  higher  in  its 
new  robes  of  death ;  the  body  lifted  high  up  before  it,  — 
the  fifth  of  its  prominent  resting-places  on  its  way  to  the 
grave ;    wreaths,   crosses,   and  crowns   of  flowers,  whose 
funeral  fragrance  sweetens  and  sickens   the  air,  —  these 
were    the    lifeless    accessories   of  the    event.     The   living 
ones  were,  first,  the  brother  and  sister  of   the  deceased, 
with  a  score  or  two  of  relatives ;  next  behind  them  sat  the 
Prince  and  his  suite,  —  he  in  black,  they  in  gold  and  the 
red  uniforms  of  the  army."     The  Governor  of  Massachu- 
setts and  his  suite  were  near,  and  "  dignitaries  of  all  sorts 
and  origins  followed  these  heads  of  rival  States  ;  and  the 
old-fashioned  church  was  speedily  filled  with  a  more  solid 
mass  of  rank  and  fame  than  was  probably  ever  gathered 
before  in  a  New-England  Congregational  meeting-house." 
•  Music  appropriate  to  the  occasion  formed  a  part  of  the 
funeral-exercises.      Rev.    Daniel    Marsh    of    Georgetown 
read  the  Scriptures ;  and  Hon.  Robert  C.  Winthrop  deliv- 
ered the  following  funeral-oration  :  — 

"  While  I  have  been  unwilling,  my  friends,  wholly  to 
decline  the  request  of  your  committee  of  arrangements,  or 


248  THE  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  PEABODY. 

to  seem  wanting  to  any  service  which  might  perchance 
have  gratified  him,  whom,  in  common  with  you  all,  I  have 
so  honored  and  loved,  I  have  still  felt  deeply,  and  I  cannot 
help  feeling  at  this  moment  more  deeply  than  ever  before, 
that  any  words  of  mine  might  well  have  been  spared  on 
this  occasion. 

"  The  solemn  tones  of  the  organ,  the  plaintive  notes  of 
the  funeral-chant,  the  consoling  lessons  of  the  Sacred  Scrip- 
tures, the  fervent  utterances  of  prayer  and  praise,  —  these 
would  seem  to  me  the  only  appropriate,  I  had  almost 
said  the  only  endurable,  interruptions  of  the  silent  sorrow 
which  befits  a  scene  like  this. 

"  Even  were  it  possible  for  me  to  add  any  thing  worth 
adding  to  the  tributes,  on  both  sides  of  the  ocean,  which 
already  have  well-nigh  exhausted  the  language  of  eulogy, 
the  formal  phrases  of  a  detailed  memoir  or  of  a  protracted 
and  studied  panegyric  would  congeal  upon  my  lips,  and 
fall  frozen  upon  the  ears  and  hearts  of  all  whom  I  address, 
in  presence  of  the  lifeless  form  of  one  who  has  so  long 
been  the  support,  the  ornament,  the  dear  delight,  of  this 
village  of  his  nativity. 

"  We  cannot,  indeed,  any  of  us,  gather  around  these 
cherished  remains,  and  prepare  to  commit  them  tenderly 
and  affectionately  to  their  mother-earth,  without  a  keen 
sense  of  personal  affliction  and  bereavement.  He  was  too 
devoted  and  loving  a  brother,  he  was  too  kind  and 
thoughtful  a  kinsman,  he  was  too  genial  and  steadfast  a 
friend,  not  to  be  missed  and  mourned  by  those  around  me 


FUNERAL  IN  AMERICA.  249 

as  few  others  have  ever  been  missed  and  mourned  here 
before.  I  am  not  insensible  to  my  own  full  share  of  the 
private  and  public  grief  which  pervades  this  community. 

"  And  yet,  my  friends,  it  is  by  no  means  sorrow  alone 
which  may  well  be  indulged  by  us  all  at  such  an  hour  as 
this.  Other  emotions  —  I  hazard  nothing  in  saying,  far 
other  emotions  —  besides  those  of  grief  are  even  now  rising 
and  swelling  in  all  our  hearts,  —  emotions  of  pride,  emo- 
tions of  joy,  emotions  of  triumph. 

"  Am  I  not  right  ?  How  could  it  be  otherwise  ?  What 
a  career  has  that  been,  of  which  the  final  scene  is  now,  at 
length,  before  us !  Who  can  contemplate  its  rise  and 
progress,  from  the  lowly  cradle  in  this  South  Parish  of  old 
Danvers  —  henceforth  to  be  known  of  all  men  by  his 
name  —  to  the  temporary  repose  in  Westminster  Abbey, 
followed  by  that  august  procession  across  the  Atlantic, 
whose  wake  upon  the  waters  -will  glow  and  sparkle  to  the 
end  of  time,  growinc;  more  and  more  luminous  with  the 
lapse  of  years,  —  who,  I  say,  can  contemplate  that  career, 
from  its  humble  commencement  to  its  magnificent  com- 
pletion, without  an  irrepressible  thrill  of  admiration,  and 
almost  of  rapture  ? 

"  Who,  certainly,  can  contemplate  the  immediate  close 
of  this  extraordinary  life,  without  rejoicing,  not  only  that 
it  was  so  painless,  so  peaceful,  so  happy  in  itself;  not  only 
that  it  was  so  providentially  postponed  until  he  had  been 
enabled  once  more  to  revisit  his  native  land  to  complete 
his  great  American  benefactions,  to  hold  personal  inter- 


250  THE  LIFE   OF  GEORGE  PEABODY. 

course  with  those  friends  at  the  South  for  whose  welfare 
the  largest  and  most  cherished  of  these  benefactions  was 
designed,  and  to  take  solemn  leave  of  those  to  whom  he 
was  bound  by  so  many  ties  of  affection  or  of  blood, — but 
that  it  occurred  at  a  time  and  under  circumstances  so 
peculiarly  fortunate  for  attracting  the  largest  attention, 
and  for  giving  the  widest  impression  and  influence,  to  his 
great  and  inspiring  example  ? 

"  For  this,  precisely  this,  as  I  believe,  would  have  been 
the  most  gratifying  consideration  to  our  lamented  friend 
himself,  could  he  have  distinctly  foreseen  all  that  has  hap- 
pened since  he  left  you  a  few  months  since.  Could  it 
have  been  foretold  him,  as  he  embarked  with  feeble 
strength  and  faltering  steps  on  board  his  favorite  '  Sco- 
tia' at  New  York  on  the  23d  of  September  last,  not 
merely  that  he  was  leaving  kinsfolk  and  friends  and  native 
land  for  the  last  time,  but  that  hardly  four  weeks  would 
have  elapsed  after  his  arrival  at  Liverpool  before  he 
should  be  the  subject  of  funeral  honors  by  command  of 
the  Queen  of  England,  and  should  lie  down  for  a  time 
beneath  the  consecrated  arches  of  that  far-famed  minster, 
among  the  kings  and  counsellors  of  the  earth  ;  could  it 
have  been  foretold  him  that  his  acts  would  be  the  theme 
of  eloquent  tributes  from  high  prelates  of  the  Church,  and 
from  the  highest  minister  of  the  Crown,  and  that  Great 
Britain  and  the  United  States  —  not  always,  nor  often, 
alas !  in  perfect  accord  —  should  vie  with  each  other 
in  furnishing  their  proudest  national  ships  to  escort   his 


FUNERAL  IN  AMERICA.  251 

remains  over  the  ocean,  exhibiting  such  a  funeral-fleet  as 
the  world  in  all  its  history  had  never  witnessed  before,  — 
could  all  this  have  been  whispered  in  his  ear  as  it  was 
catching  those  last  farewells  of  relatives  and  friends,  he 
must  indeed  have  been  more  than  mortal  not  to  have 
experienced  some  unwonted  emotions  of  personal  gratifica- 
tion and  pride. 

"  But  I  do  believe,  from  all  I  have  ever  seen  or  known 
of  him,  —  and  few  others,  at  home  or  abroad,  have  ©f  late 
enjoyed  more  of  his  confidence,  —  that  far,  far  above  any 
feelings  of  this  sort,  his  great  heart  would  have  throbbed 
as  it  never  throbbed  before  with  gratitude  to  God  and 
man,  that  the  example  which  he  had  given  to  the  world 
by  employing  the  wealth  which  he  had  accumulated  dur- 
ing a  long  life  of  industry  and  integrity  in  relieving  the 
wants  of  his  fellow-men  wherever  they  were  most  appar- 
ent to  him ;  in  providing  lodgings  for  the  poor  of  London  ; 
in  providing  education  for  the  children  of  our  own  deso- 
lated South  ;  in  building  a  memorial-church  for  the  parish 
in  which  his  mother  had  worshipped ;  in  founding  or  en- 
dowing institutes  and  libraries,  and  academies  of  science,  in 
the  town  in  which  he  was  born,  in  the  city  in  which  he 
had  longest  resided,  and  in  so  many  other  places  with 
which,  for  a  longer  or  a  shorter  time,  he  had  been  con- 
nected,—  that  this  grand  and  glorious  example  of  munifi- 
cence and  beneficence  would  thus  be  so  signally,  held  up 
to  the  contemplation  of  mankind  in '  a  way  not  only  to 
commend  it  to  their  remembrance  and  regard,  but  to  com- 


252  THE  LIFE   OF   GEORGE  PEABODY. 

mand  for  it  their  respect  and  imitation.  This,  I  feel  as- 
sured, he  would  have  felt  to  be  the  accomplishment  of  the 
warmest  wish  of  his  heart,  the  consummation  of  the  most 
cherished  object  of  his  life. 

"  Our  lamented  friend  was  not,  indeed,  without  ambi- 
tion. He  not  only  liked  to  do  grand  things,  but  he  liked 
to  do  them  in  a  grand  way.  We  all  remember  those 
sumptuous  and  princely  banquets  with  which  he  some- 
times diversified  the  habitual  simplicity  and  frugality  of 
his  daily  life.  He  was  not  without  a  decided  taste  for 
occasional  display,  —  call  it  even  ostentation,  if  you  will. 
We  certainly  may  not  ascribe  to  him  a  pre-eminent  meas- 
ure of  that  sort  of  charity  which  shuns  publicity,  which 
shrinks  from  observation,  and  which,  according  to  one  of 
our  Saviour's  well-remembered  injunctions,  i  doeth  ?cs 
alms  in  secret.'  He  may  or  he  may  not  have  exercised 
as  much  of  this  kind  of  beneficence  as  any  of  those  in 
similar  condition  around  him  :  I  fully  believe  that  he  did. 
We  all  understand,  however,  that 

1  Of  that  best  portion  of  a  good  man's  life,  — 
His  little,  nameless,  unremembered  acts 
Of  kindness  and  of  love/  — 

there  can  be  no  record  except  on  high,  or  in  the  grateful 
hearts  of  those  who  have  been  aided  and  relieved.  That 
record  shall  be  revealed  hereafter.  The  world  can  know 
little  or  nothing  of  it  now. 

"  But  any  one  must  perceive  at  a  glance  that  the  sort 


FUNERAL  IN  AMERICA.  253 

of  charity  which  our  lamented  friend  illustrated  and 
exercised  was  wholly  incompatible  with  concealment  or 
reserve.  The  great  trusts  which  he  established,  the  great 
institutions  which  he  founded,  the  capacious  and  costly 
edifices  which  he  eVected,  were  things  that  could  not  be 
hid,  which  could  not  be  done  in  a  corner.  They  were,  in 
theii  own  intrinsic  and  essential  nature,  patent  to  the 
world's  eye.  He  could  not  have  performed  these  noble 
acts  in  his  lifetime,  as  it  was  his  peculiar  choice  to  do,  and 
as  it  will  be  his  peculiar  distinction  and  glory  to  have  done, 
without  suffering  himself  '  to  be  seen  of  men  ;  '  without 
beino-  known  and  recognized  and  celebrated  as  their  author. 
He  must  have,  postponed  them  all,  as  others  have  done, 
for  posthumous  execution,  he  must  have  refrained  from 
parting  with  his  millions  until  death  should  have  wrested 
them  from  a  reluctant  grasp,  had  he  shrunk  from  the 
notoriety  and  celebrity  which  inevitably  attend  upon  such 
a  career. 

"  He  did  not  fail  to  remember,  however,  —  for  he  was 
no  stranger  to  the  Bible,  —  that  there  were  at  least  two 
modes  of  doing  good  commended  in  Holy  Writ.  He  did 
not  forget  that  the  same  glorious  gospel,  nay,  that  the 
same  incomparable  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  which  said, 
4  Let  not  thy  left  hand  know  what  thy  right  hand  doeth,' 
said  also,  '  Let  your  light  so  shine  before  men,  that  they 
may  see  your  good  works,  and  glorify  your  Father  which 
is  in  heaven.'  This,  this,  might  almost  be  regarded  as  the 
chosen  motto  of  his  later  life,  and  might  not  inappropri- 
ately be  inscribed  as  such  on  his  tombstone. 


254  THE  LIFE   OF   GEORGE  PEABODY. 

"  Certainly,  my  friends,  his  light  has  shone  before  men. 
Certainly  they  have  seen  his  good  works.  And  who  shall 
doubt  that  they  have  glorified  his  Father  which  is  in 
heaven  ?  Yes,  glory  to  God,  glory  to  God  in  the  highest, 
has,  I  am  persuaded,  swollen  up  from  the  hearts  of  mil- 
lions in  both  hemispheres  with  a  new  fervor  as  they  have 
followed  him  in  his  grand  circumnavigation  of  benevo- 
lence, and  as  they  have  witnessed,  one  after  another,  his 
multifold  and  magnificent  endowments.  And  his  own 
heart,  I  repeat,  would  have  throbbed  and  thrilled  as  it 
never  thrilled  or  throbbed  before  with  gratitude  to  God 
and  man,  could  he  have  foreseen  that  the  matchless 
example  of  munificence  which  it  had  been  the  qjierished 
aim  of  his  later  years  to  exhibit  would  be  rendered,  as  it 
has  now  been  rendered,  so  signal,  so  inspiring,  so  endur- 
ing, so  immortal,  by  the  homage  which  has  been  paid  to 
his  memory  by  the  princes  and  potentates,  as  well  as  by 
the  poor,  of  the  Old  World,  and  by  the  government  and 
the  whole  people  of  his  own  beloved  country. 

"I  have  spoken  of  the  exhibition  of  this  example  as 
having  been  the  cherished  aim  of  his  later  years  ;  but  I 
am  not  without  authority  for  saying  that  it  was  among  the 
fondest  wishes  of  his  whole  mature  life.  I  cannot  forget, 
that  in  one  of  those  confidential  consultations  with  which 
he  honored  me  some  years  since,  after  unfolding  his  plans, 
and  telling  me  substantially  all  that  he  designed  to  do,  — 
for  almost  every  thing  he  did  was  of  his  own  original 
designing,  —  and  when  I  was  filled  with  admiration  and 


FUNERAL  IN  AMERICA.  255 

amazement  at  the  magnitude  and  sublimity  of  his  pur- 
poses, he  said  to  me,  with  that  guileless  simplicity  which 
characterized  so  much  of  his  social  intercourse  and  conver- 
sation, '  Why,  Mr.  Winthrop,  this  is  no  new  idea  to  me. 
From  the  earliest  years  of  my  manhood,  I  have  contem- 
plated some  such  disposition  of  my  property  ;  and  I  have 
prayed  my  heavenly  Father,  day  by  day,  that  I  might  be 
enabled,  before  I  died,  to  show  my  gratitude  for  the 
blessings  which  he  has  bestowed  upon  me  by  doing  some 
great  good  to  my  fellow-men.' 

"  Well  has  the  living  laureate  of  England  sung,  in  one 
of  his  latest  published  poems,  — 

'  More  things  are  wrought  by  prayer 
Than  this  world  dreams  of/ 

That  prayer  has  been  heard  and  answered ;  that  no- 
ble aspiration  has  been  more  than  fulfilled.  The  judg- 
ment of  the  future  will  confirm  the  opinion  of  the  hour ; 
and  History,  instead  of  contenting  herself  with  merely 
enrolling  his  name  in  chronological  or  alphabetical  order 
^as  one  among  the  many  benefactors  of  mankind,  will 
assign  him,  unless  I  greatly  mistake  her  verdict,  a  place 
by  himself,  far  above  all  competition  or  comparison,  first 
without  a  second,  as  having  done  the  greatest  good  for 
the  greatest  number  of  his  fellow-men  —  so  far,  at  least, 
as  pecuniary  means  could  accomplish  such  a  result  —  of 
which  there  has  thus  far  been  any  authentic  record  in 
merely  human  annals. 


256  THE   LIFE   OF   GEORGE  PEABODY. 

"  It  would  afford  a  most  inadequate  measure  of  his 
munificence  were  I  to  sum  up  the  dollars  or  the  pounds 
he  has  distributed,  or  the  number  of  persons  whom  his 
perennial  provisions  for  dwellings  or  for  schools  will  have 
included,  in  years  to  come,  on  one  side  of  the  Atlantic  or 
the  other.  Tried  even  by  this  narrow  test,  his  benefi- 
cence has  neither  precedent  nor  parallel.  But  it  is  as 
having  attracted  and  compelled  the  attention  of  mankind 
to  the  beauty,  the  nobleness,  the  true  glory,  of  living  and 
doing  for  others  ;  it  is  as  having  raised  the  standard  of 
munificence  to  a  degree  which  has  almost  made  it  a  new 
thino*  in  the  world  ;  it  is  as  having  exhibited  a  wisdom 
and  a  discrimination  in  selecting  the  objects  and  in  arran- 
ging the  machinery  of  his  bounty,  which  almost  entitle  him 
to  the  credit  of  an  inventor ;  it  is  as  having,  in  the  words 
of  the  brilliant  Gladstone,  '  taught  us  how  a  man  may  be 
the  master  of  his  fortune,  and  not  its  slave  ; '  it  is  as  hav- 
ing discarded  all  considerations  of  caste,  creed,  condition, 
nationality,  in  his  world-wide  philanthropy,  regarding 
nothing  human  as  alien  to  him  ;  it  is  as  having  deliber- 
ately stripped  himself  in  his  lifetime  of  the  property  he- 
had  so  laboriously  acquired,  delighting  as  much  in  devis- 
ing modes  of  bestowing;  his  wealth  as  he  had  ever  done 
in  contriving  plans  for  its  increase  and  accumulation,  — 
literally  throwing  his  bags  like  some  adventurous  aeronaut 
who  would  mount  higher  and  higher  to  the  skies,  and 
really  exulting  as  he  calculated,  from  time  to  time,  how 
little  of  all  his  laborious  earnings  he  had  at  last  left  for 


FUNERAL   IN  AMERICA.  257 

himself;  it  is  as  having  furnished  this  new  and  living  and 
magnetic  example,  which  can  never  be  lost  to  history, 
never  be  lost  to  the  interests  of  humanity,  never  fail  to 
attract,  inspire,  and  stimulate  the  lovers  of  their  fellow- 
men,  as  long  as  human  wants  and  human  wealth  shall 
co-exist  upon  the  earth,  —  it  is  in  this  way  that  our 
lamented  friend  has  attained  a  pre-eminence  among  the 
benefactors  of  his  age  and  race,  like  that  of  Washington 
among  patriots,  or  that  of  Shakspeare  or  Milton  among 
poets. 

"I  do  not  altogether  forget  those  Maecenases  of  old 
whom  philosophers  and  poets  have  so  delighted  to  extpl. 
I  do  not  forget  the  passing  tribute  of  the  great  Roman 
orator  to  one  of  the  publicans  of  his  own  period,  as  having 
displayed  an  incredible  benignity  in  amassing  a  vast  for- 
tune, not  '  as  the  prey  of  avarice,  but  as  the  instrument 
of  doing  good.'  I  do  not  forget  the  founders  of  the  Royal 
Exchange  in  London,  and  of  the  noble  hospital  in  Edin- 
burgh, the  princely  merchant  of  Queen  Elizabeth's  day, 
or  the  '  Jingling  Geordie  '  of  England's  first  King  James. 
I  do  not  forget  how  strikingly  Edmund  Burke  foreshad- 
owed our  lamented  friend,  when  he  said  of  one  of  his  own 
contemporaries,  '  His  fortune  is  among  the  largest,  —  a 
fortune,  which,  wholly  unencumbered  as  it  is,  without  one 
single  change  from  luxury,  vanity,  or  excess,  sinks  under 
the  benevolence  of  its  dispenser :  this  private  benevo- 
lence, expanding  itself  into  patriotism,  renders  his  whole 
being  the  estate  of  the  public,  in  which  he  has  not 
17 


258  THE  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  PEABODY. 

reserved  a  peculiu?n  for  "himself  of  profit,  diversion,  or 
relaxation.'  I  do  not  forget  the  Baron  de  Monthyon  of 
France,  whose  noble  benefactions  are  annually  distributed 
by  the  Imperial  Academy,  and  whose  portrait  has  been 
combined  with  that  of  our  own  Franklin  on  a  medal  com-' 
memorative  of  their  kindred  beneficence.  I  recall,  too, 
the  refrain  of  an  ode  to  a  late  munificent  English  duke  on 
the  erection  of  his  statue  at  Belvoir  Castle,  which  might 
well  have  been  sung  again  when  Story's  statue  of  our 
friend  was  recently  unveiled  by  the  Prince  of  Wales  :  — 

'  O  my  brethren  !  what  a  glory 
*  To  the  world  is  one  good  man ! ' 

Nor  do  I  fail  to  remember  the  long  roll  of  benefactors, 
dead  and  living,  of  whom  our  own  age .  and  our  own 
country  and  our  mother-country  —  New  England  and 
Old  England  —  may  so  justly  boast.  But  no  one  imagines 
that  either  Caius  Curius,  or  Sir  Thomas  Gresham,  or 
George  Heriot,  or  Sir  George  Savile,  or  any  Duke  of 
Rutland,  or  Monthyon,  or  Franklin,  or  any  of  the  later 
and  larger  benefactors  of  our  own  time  or  land,  can  ever 
vie  in  historic  celebrity,  as  a  practical  philanthropist,  with 
him  whom  we  bury  here  to-day. 

"  Think  me  not  unmindful,  my  friends,  that,  for  the 
manifestation  of  a  true  spirit  of  benevolence,  two  mites 
will  suffice  as  well  as  untold  millions  ;  a  cup  of  cold  water 
as  well  as  a  treasure-house  of  silver  and  gold.  Think  me 
not  unmindful,  either,  of  the  grand  and  glorious  results 


FUNERAL  IN  AMERICA.  259 

for  the  welfare  of  mankind  which  have  been  .accomplished 
by  purely  moral  or  religious  influences  ;  by  personal  toil 
and  trust ;  by  the  force  of  Christian  character  and  exam- 
ple ;  by  the  exercise  of  some  great  gifts  of  intellect  or  elo- 
quence ;  by  simple  self-devotion  and  self-sacrifice,  without 
any  employment  whatever  of  pecuniary  means ;  by  mis- 
sionaries in  the  cause  of  Christ ;  by  reformers  of  prisons, 
and  organizers  of  hospitals  ;  by  Sisters  of  Charity ;  by  visit- 
ors of  the  poor ;  by  champions  of  the  oppressed  ;  by  such 
women  as  Elizabeth  Fry  and  Florence  Nightingale,  and 
such  men  as  John  Howard  and  William  Wilberforce ; 
or,  to  go  farther  back  in  history,  by  men  like  our  own 
John  Eliot,  the  early  apostle  to  the  Indians ;  or  like  the 
sainted  Vincent  de  Paul,  whose  memory  has  been  so 
justly  honored  in  France  for  more  than  two  centuries. 
But  philanthropy  of  this  sort,  I  need  not  say,  stands  on  a 
somewhat  different  plane,  and  cannot  fairly  enter  into  this 
comparison. 

"  It  is  enough  to  say  of  our  lamented  friend,  as  we  have 
seen  and  known  him  of  late,  that  in  him  were  united  —  as 
rarely  if  ever  before  —  the  largest  desire  and  the  largest 
ability  to  do  good;  that  his  will  was,  at  least,  commensurate 
with  his  wealth  ;  and  that  nothing  but  the  limited  extent 
of  even  the  most  considerable  earthly  estate  prevented  his 
enjoying  the  very  antepast  of  celestial  bliss  :  — 

'  For,  when  the  power  of  imparting  good 
Is  equal  to  the  will,  the  human  soul 
Requires  no  other  heaven.' 


260  THE  LIFE   OF   GEORGE  PEABODY. 

"  And   now,  my  friends,  what  wonder  is  it  that  all  that 
was  mortal  of  such  a  man  has  come  back  to  us  to-day 
with  such  a  convoy  and  with  such  accompanying  honors 
as  well  might  have  befitted    some    mighty  conqueror  or 
some  princely  hero  ?     Was  he  not  indeed  a  conqueror  ? 
Was  he  not  indeed  a  hero  ?     Oh  !  it  is  not  on  the  battle- 
field or  on  the  blood-stained  ocean  alone  that  conquests 
are  achieved  and  victories  won.     There  are  battles  to  be 
fought,  there  is  a  life-long  warfare  to  be  waged,  by  each 
one  of  us,  in  our  own  breasts,  and  against  our  own  selfish 
natures.     And   what   conflict  is   harder   than   that  which 
awaits  the  accumulator  of  great  wealth  ?     Who  can  ever 
forget,  or  remember  without  a  shudder,  the  emphatic  tes- 
timony to  the  character  of  that  conflict  which  was  borne 
by  our  blessed  Saviour  —  who  knew  what  was  in  man 
better  than  any  man  knows  it  for  himself —  when  he  said, 
4  How  hardly  shall  they  that  have  riches  enter  into  the 
kingdom   of  God  !  '  and   when  he  bade  that  rich  young 
man  sell  all  that  he  had,  and  distribute  to  the  poor,  and 
then  come  and  follow  him  ? 

"  It  would  be  doing  grievous  injustice  to  our  lamented 
friend,  were  we  to  deny  or  conceal  that  there  were  ele- 
ments in  his  character  which  made  his  own  warfare  in 
this  respect  a  stern  one.  He  was  no  stranger  to  the  love 
of  accumulation.  He  was  no  stranger  to  the  passion  for 
gaining  and  saving  and  hoarding.  There  were  in  his 
nature  the  germs,  and  more  than  the  germs,  of  economy, 
and  even  of  parsimony  ;  and  sometimes  they  would  sprout 


FUNERAL  IN   AMERICA.  261 

and  spring  up  in  spite  of  himself.  Nothing  less  strong 
than  his  own  will,  nothing  less  indomitable  than  his  own 
courage,  could  have  enabled  him,  by  the  grace  of  God,  to 
strive  successfully  against  that  greedy,  grudging,  avari- 
cious spirit  which  so  often  besets  the  talent  for  acquisition. 
In  a  thousand  little  ways,  you  might  perceive  to  the  last 
how  much  within  him  he  had  overcome  and  vanquished. 
All  the  more  glorious  and  signal  was  the  victory.  All 
the  more  deserved  and  appropriate  are  these  trappings  of 
triumph  with  which  his  remains  have  been  restored  to  us. 
You  rob  him  of  his  richest  laurel,  you  refuse  him  his 
brightest  crown,  when  you  attempt  to  cover  up  or  disguise 
any  of  "those  innate  tendencies,  any  of  those  acquired 
habits,  any  of  those  besetting  temptations,  against  which 
he  struggled  so  bravely  and  so  triumphantly.  Recount,  if 
you  please,  every  penurious  or  mercenary  act  of  his 
earlier  or  his  later  life  which  friends  have  ever  witnessed 
(if  they  have  ever  witnessed  any),  or  which  malice  has 
ever  whispered  or  hinted  at  (and  malice,  we  know,  has 
not  spared  him  in  more  ways  than  one),  and  you  have 
only  added  to  his  titles  to  be  received  and  remembered 
as  a  hero  and  a  conqueror. 

"As  such  a  conqueror,  then,  you  have  received  him 
from  that  majestic  turreted  iron-clad  which  the  gracious 
monarch  of  our  mother-land  has  deputed  as  her  own  mes- 
senger to  bear  him  back  to  his  home.  As  such  a  con- 
queror, you  have  canopied  his  funeral-car  with  the  flag  of 
his  country  ;  ay,  with  the  flags  of  both  his  countries,  be- 


262  THE  LIFE   OF   GEORGE   PEABODY. 

tween  whom  I  pray  God  that  his  memory  may  ever  be  a 
pledge  of  mutual  forbearance  and  affectionate  regard  !  As 
such  a  conqueror,  you  mark  the  day  and  the  hour  of  his 
burial  by  minute-guns,  aild  fire  a  farewell  shot,  it  may  be, 
as  the  clods  of  his  native  soil  are  heaped  upon  his  breast. 

"  We  do  not  forget,  however,  amidst  all  this  martial 
pomp,  how  eminently  he  was  a  man  of  peace  ;  or  how 
earnestly  he  desired,  or  how  much  he  has  *done,  to  incul- 
cate a  spirit  of  peace,  national  and  international.  I  may 
not  attempt  to  enter  here,  to-day,  into  any  consideration 
of  the  influence  of  his  specific  endowments,  at  home  or 
abroad,  American  or  English  ;  but  I  may  say,  in  a  single 
word,  that  I  think  history  will  be  searched  in  vain  for  the 
record  of  any  merely  human  acts,  recent  or  remote,  which 
have  been  more  in  harmony  with  that  angelic  chorus, 
which,  just  as  the  fleet  with  this  sad  freight  had  entered 
on  its  funeral-voyage  across  the  Atlantic,  the  whole  Chris- 
tian world  was  uniting  to  ring  back  again  to  the  skies 
from  which  it  first  was  heard;  any  merely  human  acts, 
which,  while,  as  I  have  said,  they  have  waked  a  fresh  and 
more  fervent  echo  of  '  Glory  to  God  in  the  highest,'  have 
done  more  to  promote  'peace  on  earth,  and  good  will 
towards  men.' 

"  Here,  then,  my  friends,  in  this  home  of  his  infancy, 
where,  seventy  years  ago,  he  attended  the  common  village 
school,  and  served  his  first  apprenticeship  as  a  humble 
shop-boy;  here,  where,  seventeen  years  ago,  his  first  large 
public  donation  was  made,  accompanied  by  that  memora- 


FUNERAL  IN   AMERICA.  263 

ble  sentiment,  '  Education,  —  a  debt  due  from  present  to 
future  generations ; '  here,  where  the  monuments  and  me- 
morials of  his  affection  and  his  munificence  surround  us  on 
every  side,  and  where  he  had  chosen  to  deposit  that  unique 
enamelled  portrait  of  the  Queen,  that  exquisite  gold  medal 
the  gift  of  his  country,  that  charming  little  autograph-note 
from  the  Empress  of  France,  that  imperial  photograph  of 
the  Pope  inscribed  by  his  own  hand,  and  whatever  other 
tributes  had  been  most  precious  to  him  in  life ;  here, 
where  he  has  desired  that  his  own  remains  should  finally 
repose,  near  to  the  graves  of  his  father  and  mother,  enfor- 
cing that  desire  by  those  touching  words,  almost  the  last 
which  he  uttered,  4  Danvers,  Danvers  !  don't  forget ! '  — 
here  let  us  thank  God  for  his  transcendent  example  ;  and 
here  let  us  resolve  that  it  shall  neither  fail  to  be  treasured 
up  in  our  hearts,  and  sacredly  transmitted  to  our  children 
and  our  children's  children,  nor  be  wholly  without  an  in- 
fluence upon  our  own  immediate  lives.  Let  it  never  be 
said  that  the  tomb  and  the  trophies  are  remembered  and 
cherished,  but  the  example  forgotten  or  neglected. 

"  I  may  not  longer  detain  you,  my  friends,  from  the  sad 
ceremonies  which  remain  to  be  performed  by  us ;  yet  I 
cannot  quite  release  you  until  I  have  alluded,  in  the  sim- 
plest and  briefest  manner,  to  an  incident  of  the  last  days 
and  almost  the  last  hours  of  this  noble  life  which  has  come 
to  me  from  a  source  which  cannot  be  questioned.  While 
he  was  lying,  seemingly  unconscious,  on  his  deathbed  in 
London,  at  the  house  of  his  kind  friend,  Sir  Curtis  Lamp- 


264  THE   LIFE  OF   GEORGE   PEABODY. 

son,  and  when  all  direct  communication  with  him  had  been 
for  a  time  suspended,  it  was  mentioned  aloud  in  his.  pres- 
ence, in  a  manner  and  with  a  purpose  to  test  his  con- 
sciousness, that  a  highly-valued  acquaintance  had  called  to 
see  him ;  but  he  took  no  notice  of  the  remark.  Not  long 
afterwards,  it  was  stated,  in  a  tone  loud  enough  for  him  to 
hear,  that  the  Queen  herself  had  sent  a  special  telegram 
of  inquiry  and  sympathy ;  but  even  that  failed  to  arouse 
him.  Once  more,  at  no-  long  interval,  it  was  remarked 
that  a  faithful  minister  of  the  gospel,  with  whom  he  had 
once  made  a  voyage  to  America,  was  at  the  door ;  and  his 
attention  was  instantly  attracted.  That  'good  man,'  as 
he  called  him  with  his  latest  breath,  was  received  by  him, 
and  prayed  with  him  more  than  once.  '  It  is  a  great  mys- 
tery,' he  feebly  observed ;  '  but  I  shall  know  all  soon :  ' 
while  his  repeated  '  amens  '  gave  audible  and  abundant 
evidence  that  those  prayers  were  not  lost  upon  his  ear  or 
upon  his  heart.  The  friendships  of  earth  could  no  longer 
soothe  him;  the  highest  honors  of  the  world,  the  kind 
attentions  of  a  sovereign  whom  he  knew  how  to  respect, 
admire,  and  love,  could  no  longer  satisfy  him  :  the  ambas- 
sador of  Christ  was  the  only  visitor  for  that  hour. 

"  Thus,  we  may  humbly  hope,  was  at  last  explained  and 
fulfilled  for  him  that  mysterious  saying  of  one  of  the  an- 
cient prophets  of  Israel,  which  he  had  heard  many  years 
before  as  the  text  of  a  sermon  by  one  whom  he  knew 
and  valued,  which  had  long  lingered  in  his  memory,  and 
which,  by  some  force  of  association  or  reflection,  had  again 


FUNERAL  IN  AMERICA.  265 

and  again  been  recalled  to  his  mind,  and  more  than  once, 
in  my  own  hearing,  been  made  the  subject  of  his  remark : 
'  And  it  shall  come  to  pass  in  that  day,  that  the  light 
shall  not  be  clear  nor  dark ;  but  it  shall  be  one  day  which 
shall  be  known  to  the  Lord,  not  day,  nor  night:  but 
it  shall  come  to  pass,  that  at  evening-time  it  shall  be  light.' 

"  At  evening  time  it  was  indeed  light  for  him.  And 
who  shall  doubt,  that,  when  another  morning  shall  break 
upon  his  brow,  it  shall  be  a  morning  without  clouds,  —  all 
light  and  love  and  joy  ?  '  for  the  glory  of  God  shall  lighten 
it,  and  the  Lamb  shall  be  the  light  thereof.' 

"  And  so  I  bid  farewell  to  thee,  —  brave,  honest,  noble- 
hearted  friend !  The  village  of  thy  birth  weeps  to-day 
for  one  who  never  caused  her  pain  before.  The  i  flower 
of  Essex '  is  gathered  at  thy  grave.  Massachusetts  mourns 
thee  as  a  son  who  has  given  new  lustre  to  her  historic 
page ;  and  Maine,  not  unmindful  of  her  joint  inheritance 
in  the  earlier  glories  of  the  parent  State,  has  opened  her 
noblest  harbor,  and  draped  her  municipal  halls  with  rich- 
est, saddest  robes,  to  do  honor  to  thy  remains.  New  Eng- 
land, from  mountain-top  to  farthest  cape,  is  in  sympathy 
with  the  scene,  and  feels  the  fitness  that  the  hallowed 
memories  of  4  Leyden  '  and  i  Plymouth  '  —  the  refuge  and 
the  rock  of  her  Pilgrim  Fathers  —  should  be  associated 
with  thy  obsequies.  This  great  and  glorious  nation,  in  all 
its  restored  and  vindicated  union,  partakes  the  pride  of  thy 
life  and  the  sorrow  of  thy  loss.  In  hundreds  of  schools  of 
the  desolated  South,  the   children   even  now  arc  chanting 


266  THE  LIFE  OF   GEORGE   PEABODY. 

thy  requiem,  and  weaving  chaplets  around  thy  name.  In 
hundreds  of  comfortable  homes  provided  ^y  thy  bounty, 
the  poor  of  the  grandest  city  of  the  world  even  now  are 
breathing  blessings  on  thy  memory.  The  proudest  shrine 
of  Old  England  has  unlocked  its  consecrated  vaults  for 
thy  repose.  The  bravest  ship  of  a  navy  '  whose  march  is 
on  the  mountain-wave,  whose  home  is  on  the  deep,'  has 
borne  thee  as  a  conqueror  to  thy  chosen  rest ;  and  as  it 
passed  from  isle  to  isle,  and  from  sea  to  sea,  in  a  circum- 
navigation almost  as  wide  as  thy  own  charity,  has  given 
new  significance  to  the  memorable  saying  of  the  great 
funeral  orator  of  antiquity  :  '  Of  illustrious  men,  the  whole 
earth  is  the  sepulchre  ;  and  not  only  does  the  inscription 
upon  columns  in  their  own  land  point  it  out,  but  in  that, 
also,  which  is  not  their  own,  there  dwells  with  every  one 
an  unwritten  memorial  of  the  heart.'  And  now  around 
thee  are  assembled  not  only  surviving  schoolmates  and 
old  companions  of  thy  youth,  and  neighbors  and  friends  of 
thy  maturer  years,  but  votaries  of  science,  ornaments  of 
literature,  heads  of  universities  and  academies,  foremost 
men  of  commerce  and  the  arts,  ministers"  of  the  gospel, 
delegates  from  distant  States,  and  rulers  of  thy  own  State, 
all  eager  to  unite  in  paying  such  homage  to  a  career  of 
grand  but  simple  beneficence  as  neither  rank  nor  fortune 
nor  learning  nor  genius  could  ever  have  commanded. 
Chiefs  of  the  Republic,  representatives  and  more  than 
representatives  of  royalty,  are  not  absent  from  thy  bier. 
Nothing   is  wanting  to   give    emphasis   to   thy  example  ; 


FUNERAL  IN  AMERICA.  267 

nothing  is  wanting  to  fill  up  the  measure  of  thy  fame. 
But  what  earthly  honor,  what  accumulation  of  earthly 
honors,  shall  compare  for  a  moment  with  the  supreme 
hope  and  trust  which  we  all  humbly  and  devoutly  cherish 
at  this  hour,  that  when  the  struggles  and  the  victories,  the 
pangs  and  pageants,  of  time  shall  be  ended,  and  the  great 
awards  of  eternity  shall  be  made  up,  thou  mayst  be  found 
amongst  those  who  are  <  more  than  conquerors  through 
Him  who  loved  us  '  ? 

"And  so  we  bid  thee  farewell,  —  brave,  honest,  noble- 
hearted  friend  of  mankind  !  " 

After  Mr.   Winthrop  had  concluded  his  remarks,  the 

anthem, 

"  Their  sun  shall  no  more  go  down," 

was  sung  by  the  choir,  and  the  Rev.  Mr.  Marsh  offered  a 
solemn  prayer.  The  services  were  closed  with  Watts's 
hymn,  commencing, 

"  Unveil  thy  hosom,  faithful  tomb ;  " 

and  the  benediction  was  then  pronounced  by  Rev.  Mr. 
Marsh. 

The  congregation  were  most  devout  throughout  the  ser- 
vice. The  greatest  attention  was  paid  by  Prince  Arthur 
to  the  eulogy,  and  at  some  portions  of  it  he  was  observed 
to  be  deeply  affected. 

It  was  a  touching  tribute  of  respect  to  the  royal  mother 


268  THE   LIFE   OF   GEORGE   PEABODY. 

of  Prince  Arthur  that  he  should  be  found  among  the 
mourners  at  the  funeral  of  London's  benefactor,  in  his  far- 
off  native  land ;  and  his  princely  bearing  while  on  his  late 
visit  to  the  United  States  has  won  the  esteem  of  the  na- 
tion, and  reflected  credit  upon  the  mother  whom  England 
and  America  delight  to  honor. 


CHAPTER    XIX. 


DESERVED     TRIBUTES. 


Newman  Hall  on  George  Peabody.  —  Tributes  from  Various  Sources.  — 
The  Pulpit's  Voice  in  Praise  of  his  Beneficence.  —  List  of  his  Donations. 

"  Nor  let  tby  noble  spirit  grieve 
Its  life  of  glorious  fame  to  leave : 
A  life  of  honor  and  of  worth 
Has  no  eternity  on  earth."  —  Longfellow. 

"Render  therefore,  to  all,  their  dues."  —  ROM.  xiii.  7. 

HE  mortal  remains  of  the  great  benefactor  now 
repose  in  Harmony  Grove,  —  the  spot  select- 
ed by  himself.  This  is  a  beautifully  wooded 
rising  ground  near  Salem,  and  bordering  upon 
that  part  of  Danvers  now  known  as  Peabody.  "  Upon 
the  principal  street  of  the  latter,  the  visitor  still  sees  the 
house,  with  its  small  shop-front,  in  which,  as  the  boy  of 
the  village-store,  many  of  the  youthful  days  of  the  great 
philanthropist  were  spent.  The  little  window  of  its  nar- 
row attic  is  that  of  his  bedroom."  From  it,  doubtless,  he 
often  looked  out  on  the  green  spot  where  his  body  rests. 
He  has  gone  to  the  grave  with  the  highest  honors  two 

269 


270  THE  LIFE   OF  GEOltGE   PEABODY. 

great  nations  could  pay.     England  and  America  buried 
him,  and  France  looked  on  with  sympathy  at  the  funeral. 

Eulogies  fell  from  eloquent  lips  on  both  sides  of  the  sea. 
Rev.  Newman  Hall  preached  a  sermon  in  reference  to 
his  departure,  from  which  the  following  extracts  are 
taken :  — 

"  The  old  arches  of  Westminster  Abbey  never  looked 
down  on  a  spectacle  more  solemnly  impressive,  more 
touchingly  eloquent,  more  sublime  in  its  simplicity,  than 
when,  two  days  ago,  the  remains  of  George  Peabody 
were  deposited  beneath  its  sacred  pavement.  What  a 
sermon  did  that  ancient  cathedral  preach  to  the  assembled 
thousands,  as  they  waited  in  sorrowful  silence  the  arrival 
of  all  that  was  mortal  of  the  deceased  philanthropist !  .  .  . 
All  the  centuries  of  England's  grand  old  history  were 
looking  down  upon  us.  Spirits  of  Saxons  and  Normans, 
of  steel-clad  kings  and  feudal  chiefs,  of  sturdy  barons  and 
mitred  prelates,  of  mailed  crusaders  and  shaven  monks, 
of  Cavaliers  and  Roundheads,  of  statesmen  and  jurists,  of 
poets  and  orators,  of  philosophers  and  philanthropists, 
seemed  to  gather  round,  intent  to  watch  the  accession 
which  this  day  would  bring  to  those  venerated  vaults.  .  .  . 

"  Many  a  scene  of  pomp  and  splendor  has  that  abbey 
witnessed ;  but  far  more  in  harmony  with  its  solemn 
architecture,  impressive  antiquity,  and  monuments  of 
death,  was  such  a  scene  as  last  Friday  witnessed.  The 
spacious  building  was  crowded  in  every  part  by  a  multi- 


DESERVED  TRIBUTES.  271 

tilde  clad  in  mourning  attire,  and  bearing  in  their  features 
and  demeanor  the  expression  of  a  reverential  sorrow.  If 
any  spoke,  while  waiting  till  the  appointed  hour,  it  was 
with  bated  breath,  so  as  not  to  disturb  the  expressive 
silence  which  was  broken  only  by  the  solemn  knell  from 
the  old  tower  pealing  ever  and  anon  through  the  arches 
so  lono;  familiar  with  the  sound.   .   .  . 

"  The  funeral  now  solemnized  was  of  a  private  citizen, 
who  had  sought  no  distinction  of  rank  or  title,  but  who, 
by  industry  and  sagacity,  accumulated  vast  treasures, 
which  it  was  his  delight  to  employ  for  the  benefit  of  the 
poor.  His  was  a  warfare  against  want,  in  waging  which 
he  built  many  homes,  and  desolated  none.  His  was  a 
statesmanship  which  simply  looked  at  suffering,  and  at 
once  mitigated  it  by  a  generosity  which  could  give  no 
occasion  to  party  difference,  by  a  law  of  love  which  none 
would  ever  wish  to  repeal.  An  American  citizen,  his 
business  and  home  were  for  many  years  in  London. 
Here  he  beheld  the  miseries  of  the  teeming  multitudes  of 
the  poor,  often  crowded  together  in  unhealthy  abodes, 
forbidding  comfort,  cleanliness,  and  decency.  Blessed  by 
Divine  Providence  with  great  prosperity  in  business,  he 
felt  it  his  pleasure  to  distribute  of  his  treasures  to  the  poor, 
rather  than  to  go  on  augmenting  the  heap,  so  as  to  have 
the  questionable  credit  of  dying  richer  than  most  of  his 
compeers.  Besides  large  benefactions  in  his  own  country, 
successive  donations  have  reached  the  sum  of  half  a  mil- 
lion sterling,  invested  in  trustees,  to  be  employed  for  the 


272  THE   LIFE   OF   GEORGE  PEABODY. 

benefit  of  the  poor  of  the  metropolis  throughout  future 
generations.  Noble  was  his  gift,  and  just  has  been  the 
nation's  appreciation.  The  Queen,  some  time  since,  sent 
him  a  special  mark  of  her  personal  honor  and  regard,  and 
earnestly  desired  to  see  him ;  inviting  him  to  Windsor  to 
meet  her  quietly  for  personal  intercourse,  and  then  pro- 
posing to  visit  him  at  his  own  residence.  But,  alas  !  ill- 
ness and  death  frustrated  the  monarch's  graceful  and  char- 
acteristic purpose.  And  now,  though  his  body  was  finally 
to  rest  in  the  land  of  his  birth,  all  that  could  be  done  in 
honor  of  him  dead  was  done,  —  a  funeral  in  Westminster 
Abbey. 

"  And  now  the  solemn  procession  is  entering  from  the 
cloisters  ;  and  from  afar  we  hear  the  wailing  notes  of  the 
choristers,  as  in  long  array  they  slowly  move  up  the  nave 
between  the  multitudes  of  sympathizing  spectators.  Very 
slowly  they  pass  along;  their  plaintive  voices  —  now  most 
sad,  now  swelling  forth  in  tones  of  hope  —  mingling  with 
the  notes  of  the  great  organ.  The  coffin  is  borne  along, 
followed  by  mourners  of  both  nations,  into  the  choir, 
where  every  seat  had  long  been  occupied  by  representa- 
tives of  all  parties  in  the  State,  waiting  thus  to  do  homage 
to  the  memory  of  the  poor  man's  friend.  The  chanted 
psalm  is  now  heard  ringing  in  the  vaulted  roof,  and  the 
sublime  words  which  tell  of  victory  over  death  through 
Jesus  Christ  our  Lord.  Again  the  solemn  procession  is 
seen  emerging  from  the  choir,  and  traversing  the  cathedral, 
till  it  reaches  the  grave,  where  the  concluding  prayers  are 


DESERVED  TRIBUTES.  273 

offered  up,  and  the  final  anthem  sung,  — c  His  body.' 
Then  the  principal  mourners  stood  for  a  while  gazing  into 
the  grave.  The  Premier  of  England,  as  representing  the 
government  and  the  nation,  stood  there,  thoughtful  and 
devout,  rendering  the  willing  homage  of  his  great  and 
sympathizing  nature.  And  the  Secretary  for  Foreign  Af- 
fairs was  there,  as  representing  the  empire  in  its  relations 
with  all  other  lands,  and  especially  with  the  great  nation 
to  which  the  deceased  belonged.  And  beside  him  was  the 
Queen's  chamberlain,  as  representing  her  own  personal 
admiration,  and  paying  her  own  personal  tribute  to  the 
deceased  benefactor  of  her  people.  And  the  lord-mayor 
and  magistrates  of  London  were  there,  to  testify  their 
obligations  to  so  princely  a  benefactor  to  their  city. 
And  amongst  these,  and  others  of  varying  celebrity,  was 
the  American  ambassador,  his  keen  eye  taking  in  every 
feature  of  the  scene,  his  high  intelligence  marking  well  its 
significance.  And  what  did  it  mean  ?  It  meant  some- 
thing more  potent  than  his  diplomacy,  or  that  of  any  states- 
man of  either  country,  anxious  as  they  may  be  to  remove 
all  misunderstanding,  and  consolidate  a  lasting  peace. 
More  than  conferences,  protocols,  treaties,  explanations, 
compensations,  —  far  more  is  done  by  such  deeds  as  those  of 
Peabody,  and  such  appreciation  as  was  witnessed  that  day, 
to  cement  together  our  two  nations.  George  Peabody, 
the  American,  amassing  a  princely  fortune  to  bequeath  to 
the  poor  of  Great  Britain  ;  George  Peabody,  the  Ameri- 
can, buried  with  a  nation's  lamentation  among  her  princes 

18 


274  THE  LIFE   OF   GEORGE   PEABODY. 

and  statesmen  in  Westminster  Abbey  ;  George  Peabody, 
his  body,  after  the  highest  honors  Great  Britain  could  pay 
it,  carried  across  the  ocean  in  a  British  ship-of-war,  there 
to  be  interred  for  its  final  resting-place  in  his  own  land,  — 
George  Peabody  is  a  link  of  peace  and  love  between  the 
two  nations,  which  must  never  be  broken.  And  as 
American  and  British  statesmen  stood  around  that  open 
grave  ;  as  American  and  British  citizens  blended  their 
voices  in  the  prayer  to  4  our  Father  in  heaven '  to  forgive 
us  our  trespasses  as  we  forgive  each  other ;  as,  at  the  same 
hour  when  this  solemn  service  was  performing  in  West- 
minster Abbey,  the  cradle  of  both  nations,  similar  ser- 
vices were  beino;  conducted  in  America,  while  flags  were 
lowered  and  bells  were  tolled,  —  I  felt,  that,  whether  diplo- 
macy has  yet  finally  and  formally  completed  its  business 
or  ~  not,  there  never  again  can  be  a  question  about  the 
maintenance  of  friendship.  All  thoughts  of  the  possibility 
of  quarrel  must  forever  pass  away ;  and  in  the  grave  of 
Peabody,  both  at  Westminster  and  at  Danvers,  must 
every  remaining  suspicion  and  memory  of  evil  be  buried ; 
both  nations  resolving  that  no  deeds  or  words  of  menace 
or  ill  will  shall  again  be  exchanged,  and  that  not  mere 
rigid  justice,  but  generous  love,  shall  settle  all  matters  still 
in  debate.  The  interests  of  civilization,  the  cause  of  lib- 
erty, the  claims  of  religion,  the  welfare  of  the  world, 
demand,  that  as  we  are  essentially  one  nation,  so  we  shall 
ever  be  bound  together  in  the  closest  ties  of  brotherhood, 
each  seeking  the  honor  and  welfare  of  the  other,  and  both 


DESERVED   TRIBUTES.  275 

co-operating  to  lead  the  van  in  the  triumphant  march  of 
universal  civilization,  freedom,  and  peace.  Other  thoughts 
then  crowded  on  my  mind.  The  first  was  this :  How 
wise,  yet  how  rare,  the  course  which  Mr.  Peabody  pur- 
sued !  Having  attended  to  personal  claims,  he  had  vast 
wealth  remaining,  —  far  beyond  what  he  needed  for  him- 
self. He  did  not  care  to  squander  it  in  idle  ostentation.  It 
was  impossible  to  exhaust  it  on  his  own  wants  or  luxuries, 
had  he  been  so  disposed.  Where  would  be  the  advantage 
of  leaving  behind  him,  to  be  disposed  of  by  others,  so  vast 
a  sum,  when  he  might  have  the  happiness  of  being  his 
own  almoner  ?  How  petty  the  ambition  of  dying  worth  a 
fabulous  sum  of  money  !  As  we  can  take  nothing  with 
us,  we  cannot  die  worth  any  thing.  Rich  and  poor  alike 
came  naked  into  the  world,  and  naked  they  must  leave  it. 
It  is  certain  we  can  carry  nothing  out.  Why  not,  then, 
use  it  while  we  may,  and  enjoy  the  luxury  of  making 
others  happy  ?  How  awful  it  is  to  die  rich,  when  such 
riches  have  been  accumulated  by  neglecting  the  claims  of 
relio-ion  and  charitv !  With  a  thousand  claimants  for 
help ;  with  philanthropic  machinery  of  all  kinds  standing 
still,  or  working  inefficiently,  for  want  of  the  fuel  we 
possess  and  cannot  use  ourselves  ;  with  the  hungry  crying 
for  food,  and  the  ignorant  claiming  instruction,  and  sinners 
needing  the  gospel,  'perishing  for  lack  of  knowledge,'  — 
it  is  a  fearful  responsibility  to  possess  great  wealth,  an  aw- 
ful crime  to  die  rich,  after  a  life  of  4  covetousness  which  is 
idolatry.'     All  honor  to  Mr.  Peabody,  that,  in  his  lifetime, 


276  THE  LIFE   OF  GEORGE   PEABODY. 

lie  recognized  the  responsibility,  as  well  as  enjoyed  the 
privileges,  of  wealth  ;  and  that  he  derived  greater  satisfac- 
tion in  scattering  his  possessions  amongst  the  poor  than  in 
indefinitely  augmenting  his  store  !  " 

"  The  London  Evening  Standard "  contained  the  fol- 
lowing  poetical  tribute  while  the  remains  of  Mr.  Peabody 
were  taking  their  solemn.  wTay  across  the  deep  :  — 

REQUIESCAT    IN    PACE. 

We  send  him  home. 
England  sends  home  her  son,  —  her  son  (for  he 
Is  yours,  and  ye  our  first-born)  ;  sends  him  home 
As  nations  send  the  men  they  honor  most,  — 
In  pride  and  state  and  pomp  of  splendid  death. 

We  send  him  home. 
The  land  he  loved  to  his  own  loving  land,  — 
The  loan  to  the  lender ;  and  we  add  thereto 
A  royal  usury,  —  a  people's  tears. 

We  send  him  home,  — 
The  good,  kind  heart,  the  simple  gentleman,  — 
And,  sending,  say,  "  This  body  spans  the  gulf. 
We  stretch  across  as  with  a  fleshly  arm, 
And  our  own  flesh  (oh,  never  doubt !)  will  clasp 
The  hand  of  brotherhood  with  strong  right  hand. 
Wipe  out  the  past,  — all  but  the  old  kind  years  • 

Before  an  oft-regretted  harshness  snapt 
The  filial  link  ;  the  years  when  England  still 
Was  '  home  '  to  far-off  hearths,  and  saw  with  pride 
Her  Titan  offspring  towering  into  strength.  .  .  , 


DESERVED  TEIBUTES.  277 

Wipe  out  the  past,  —  the  wrongs,  the  unnatural  strife, 
And  the  red  blood  that  English  hands  have  poured 
From  English  veins.     War  is  a  curse  ;  but  war 
Betwixt  one  race,  one  kindred,  doubly  cursed." 

What  gain  in  war  ?     No  gain  ;  but  loss  of  much 
Of  life,  of  treasure.     Gain  of  honor,  then  ? 
The  weaker  falls  :  what  honor  to  the  strong  ? 
0  war !  what  honor  hast  thou  1     Honor  none. 
But  war  treads  down  the  blossoming  rose  of  peace  ; 
With  iron  heel  stamps  out  the  smouldering  sparks 
Of  spiritual  fire,  and  the  smugglings  faint 
Of  poor,  blind,  dumb  humanity  for  light. 

We  send  him  home 
Who  showed  a  better  way.     With  good,  not  ill, 
He  nobly  conquered,  and,  where  darkness  reigns 
Amidst  the  abodes  of  night,  made  day,  himself 
Illumined  by  the  brightness  that  he  gave. 

He  taught  us  love ;  and  let  us  learn  the  theme,  — 
Prelude  alike  and  close  of  all  that  is. 
And  whilst  with  stooping  flag  and  muffled  march 
The  great  ship  bears  the  lowly  to  his  rest ; 
Whilst  twice  ten  thousand  brazen  lips  ring  woe, 
And  thousand  thousand  hearts  re-echo  it ; 
Yea,  whilst  the  funeral-peal  is  thundering  forth 
Even  from  the  black  cannon-mouths  agape  for  war,  — 
Join  we  our  hands  above  the  gracious  dead, 
And,  mingling  tears  in  one  long  sorrow,  swear 
To  write  this  epitaph  above  him,  —  Peace.  n.  c.  p. 

The  pulpit  on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic  gave  its  voice 
in  favor  of  his  beneficence,  and  made  the  name  of  George 
Peabody  a  household  word. 


278  THE   LIFE   OF   GEORGE  PEABODY. 

The  following  is  a  list  of  his  donations,  in  a  convenient 
form  for  reference  ;  and  it  embraces  all  the  more  important 
public  gifts  of  Mr.  Peabody  to  various  institutions  and 
charities  during  his  lifetime,  including  the  bequests  con- 
tained in  his  last  will  and  testament :  — 

To  the  State  of  Maryland,  for  negotiating  the  loan  of  $8,000,000,  $GO,000 
To  the  Peabody  Institute,  Baltimore,  Md.,  including  accrued  in- 
terest   1,500,000 

To  the  Southern  Education  Fund 3,000,000 

To  Yale  College 150,000 

To  Harvard  College 150,000 

To  Peabody  Academy,  Massachusetts 140,000 

To  Phillips  Academy,  Massachusetts 25,000 

To  Peabody  Institute,  &c,  at  Peabody,  Mass 250,000 

To  Kenyon  College,  Ohio 25,000 

To  Memorial  Church  in  Georgetown,  Mass 100,000 

To  Homes  for  the  Poor  in  London 3,000,000 

To  Libraries  in  Georgetown,  Mass.,  and  Thetford,  Vt 10,000 

To  Kane's  Arctic  Expedition 10,000 

To  different  Sanitary  Fairs 10,000 

To  unpaid  moneys  advanced  to  uphold  the  credit  of  States 40,000 

Total $8,470,000 

In  addition  to  the  above,  Mr.  Peabody  made  a  large 
number  of  donations  for  various  public  purposes,  ranging 
in  sums  from  two  hundred  and  fifty  to  one  thousand  dol- 
lars, and  extending  back  as  far  as  the  year  1835. 

The  amount  of  property  left  by  him  at  his  death  is 
estimated  at  about  four  million  dollars  in  value.  With  the 
exception  of  a  few  bequests  in  the  will,  this  amount  is 


DESERVED   TRIBUTES.  279 

directed  to  be  distributed  among  his  relatives,  including 
one  brother,  one  sister,  and  about  fourteen  nephews  and 
nieces.  On  his  last  visit  to  this  country,  he  divided  among 
them  one  million  five  hundred  thousand  dollars  ;  and  the 
property  left  at  his  death  is  to  be  distributed  in  the  same 
proportions  to  each  as  were  awarded  by  him  in  that  gift. 


CHAPTER   XX. 


THOUGHTS    SUGGESTED. 


The  Lessons  of  George  Peabody's  Life.  —  Money  is  Power.  —  A  Conse- 
crated Purse  is  that  of  Fortunatus. 

"  We  tell  thy  doom  without  a  sigh ; 

For  thou  art  Freedom's  now,  and  Fame's, — 
One  of  the  few,  the  immortal  names 
That  were  not  horn  to  die."  —  Haxxjsck. 

"  Be  not  overcome  of  evil;  but  overcome  evil  with  good."  —  Rom.  xii.  21. 

[RACE  GREENWOOD  paid  a  beautiful  trib- 
ute to  Mr.  Peabody  in  an  article  entitled 
"  The  Good  Giver."  We  have  only  space  for 
a  part  of  her  true  words.  She  said,  — 
"  The  honors  paid  to  the  memory  of  the  late  George 
Peabody  are  a  cheering  sign  of  the  state  of  moral  senti- 
ment in  England.  The  English  people,  from  the  Queen 
to  her  humblest  subject,  reverenced  this  good  giver  as 
no  other  American  citizen  was  ever  reverenced  in  the 
mother-country.  It  shows  that  deeds  of  benevolence  are 
getting  to  be  more  esteemed  than  deeds  of  valor,  even  in 
that  land  of  military  heroes.   .  .  . 

280 


THOUGHTS   SUGGESTED.  281 

"  When  this  man  died,  as  he  had  lived,  a  simple  Ameri- 
can citizen,  the  honors  paid  him  by  the  great  of  his 
adopted  country  were  personal  rather  than  national  trib- 
utes, altogether  voluntary  and  loving  ;  while  his  sincerest 
mourners  were  among  the  humblest  of  the  poor.  '  The 
blessing  of  those  ready  to  perish  '  canopied  his  hearse. 
We  may  almost  think  of  angels  as  walking  in  his  funeral- 
procession.   .   .   . 

"  Would  that  our  rich  capitalists  might  take  home  the 
lesson  of  George  Peabody's  wise  and  generous  benefac- 
tions, and  allow  themselves  the  almost  divine  luxury  of 
distributing  their  own  charities  of  giving,  not  ivilling  ! 

"  Who  can  doubt  that  the  rich  banker  found  a  sweeter 
happiness,  if  not  a  keener  pleasure,  in  scattering  abroad, 
than  he  had  ever  found  in  amassing  his  splendid  fortune  ? 
He  cast  his  bread  on  the  waters  with  a  liberal  hand  ;  and 
though  he  had  here  no  return  in  kind,  and.  needed  none, 
amid  the  pleasant  pastures  of  the  better  land,  on  the 
green  banks  of  the  river  of  life,  it  will  all  come  back 
to  him." 

The  following  poetical  tribute  appeared  in  "  The  New- 
York  Independent :  "  — 

"  Nations  have  vied  to  do  him  honor,  —  him 
Whose  royal  heart  went  ont  to  all  his.  kind  ; 
Whose  hand  e'er  proved  the  princely  almoner 
To  do  its  generous  bidding.     Now  in  death 
Each  throbbing  pulse  is  stilled.     Eold  the  white  hands 
Upon  the  quiet  breast :  their  work  is  done  ! 


282  THE   LIFE   OF   GEORGE   PEABOBY. 

Give  him  brief  place  'mongst  England's  titled  dead, 

Where  kings  and  warriors,  borne  with  regal  pomp 

And  rites  imposing,  lie  in  gilded  state, 

While  o'er  them  banners  wave,  and  music  swells ; 

Where,  wreathed  with  fadeless  laurel,  poets  sleep. 

Vain  are  these  empty  pageants  !     Better  far 

The  widow's  blessing  and  the  orphan's  tear, 

In  grateful  memory  of  such  kindly  acts 

As  graced  his  life,  and  crowned  it  at  its  close. 

Blow  gently,  gales  !  and  waft  o'er  summer  seas 
The  gallant  convoy  with  its  precious  freight. 
In  his  far  childhood's  home,  'mid  rural  scenes, 
In  sweet  seclusion  from  the  world's  turmoil, 
There  let  the  good  man  rest ! 

No  costly  pile, 
Graven  with  the  shining  record  of  his  deeds, 
Shall  tell  the  world  that  here  a  conqueror  lies: 
His  cenotaph  is  reared  in  every  clime; 
On  every  shore  where  sweeps  the  ocean-surge 
Lingers  the  echo  of  his  nobler  fame." 

The  lessons  of  his  life  are  before  the  people  of  England 
and  America.  They  are  indicated  on  every  page  of  this 
volume.  Introduction  and  Memoir  teach  the  same  great 
lessons ;  and,  while  his  eulogist  at  the  final  funeral  allowed 
that  he  had  faults,  the  hearts  of  all  who  remember  his 
benefaction  will  gladly  echo  the  words  of  large-souled 
Gilbert  Haven :  ."  The  great  snow  monument  piled  up 
by  the  hands  of  Heaven  over  his  grave  on  the  very  night 
of  his  burial  is  a  felicitous  symbol  of  the  whiteness  of  his 
fame.  Cleaned  of  all  spots  by  the  washing  of  death  and 
grace  and  time,  it  shall  stand  forth  in  the  future,  pure  as 


THOUGHTS  SUGGESTED.  283 

the  driven  snow,  an  incentive  to  all  men  of  wealth  so  to 
use  their  acquisitions,  that  when  they  fail,  as  fail  they  must, 
these  shall  receive  them  into  everlasting  habitations.  .  .  . 
Will  not  such  an  example  aid  the  man  of  wealth  in  con- 
quering this  demon,  and  making  it  his  slave,  and  not  his 
master?  Begin  young,  O  man  of  business!  as  he  began, 
to  devise  liberal  things.  Let  not  your  money  insnare  you, 
or  ruin  yours.  Give  to  your  brother,  the  church,  the 
poor,  the' ignorant ;  and  ye  shall  have  treasure  in  heaven." 

Money  is  power,  for  good  or  for  evil.  George  Peabody 
made  it  an  instrument  for  good.  He  made  "friends  of 
the  mammon  of  unrighteousness "  by  using  his  great 
gains  for  the  benefit  of  humanity.  The  following  is  a 
copy  of  the  main  provisions  of  his  will,  as  taken  from  the 
books  of  Doctors'  Commons,  London  :  — 

"  I,  George  Peabody,  gentleman,  do  make  this  my  last 
will  and  testament :  — 

"  Firstly,  I  direct  that  my  remains  shall  be  sent  to  my 
native  town  of  Danvers,  now  incorporated  by  the  name  of 
Peabody,  in  the  County  of  Essex,  and  Commonwealth 
of  Massachusetts,  in  that  part  of  the  United  States  of 
America  called  New  England,  and  be  deposited'  in  the 
ground  appropriated  to  that  purpose  in  the  cemetery  of 
Harmony  Grove  in  Salem,  in  said  county,  near  the  Pea- 
body town-line,  under  the  direction  of  my  executors  herein- 
after named. 

"  Secondly,  I  give  and  bequeath  to  Henry  West,  of  22, 


284  THE  LIFE  OF   GEORGE  PEABODY. 

Old  Broad  Street,  London,  <£  2,200;  and,  in  the  event 
of  his  decease,  to  his  wife,  Louisa  West ;  and,  in  the 
event  of  her  decease,  to  his  surviving  children. 

"  Thirdly,  I  give  and  bequeath  to  Thomas  Perman,  of  22, 
Old  Broad  Street,  London,  the  sum  of  <£1,000;  and,  in 
the  event  of  his  decease,  to  his  Avife,  Annette  Emma 
Perman ;  and,  in  the  event  of  her  decease,  to  his  surviv- 
ing children.  And  I  empower  my  executors  to  pay  the 
above-named  legacies  within  six  months  after  my  decease, 
and  free  from  any  tax,  duty,  or  charges,  whatever. 

"  Fourthly,  I  give  and  bequeath  to  the  Right  Hon.  Lord 
Stanley,  the  American  minister  at  the  court  of  St.  James 
for.  the  time  being,  the  Right  Hon.  Stafford  Northcote, 
Bart.,  Sir  Curtis  Miranda  Lampson,  Bart.,  and  Junius 
Spencer  Morgan,  Esq.,  trustees  of  the  Peabody  Donation 
Fund,  and  their  successors,  trustees  of  the  said  fund,  the 
sum  of  <£  150,000,  upon  trust,  for  the  building  of  lodging- 
houses  for  the  laboring  poor  of  London,  as  defined  in  my 
late  letters  to  said  trustees  ;  and  I  direct  that  this  legacy 
be  considered  a  part  of  the  second  trust,  and  disposed  of 
in  accordance  with  the  said  trust.  And  I  direct  that  my 
London  executors  shall,  of  the  said  sum  of  £  150,000,  pay 
to  said  trustees  of  the  Peabody  Donation  Fund  £100,000 
on  the  first  Monday  of  October,  1873  ;  and  the  sum  of 
X 50,000  at  any  time  during  said  year  of  1873.  As  this 
work  progresses,  the  labor  and  responsibility  increase  ; 
and  I  therefore  deem  it  essential  that  another  trustee  be 
added,  who  will  have  the  necessary  time,  and  possess  the 


THOUGHTS   SUGGESTED.  285 

requisite  knowledge  of  all  that  may  be  needed  for  the 
successful  prosecution  of  the  trust.  Without  assuming 
to  dictate  to  the  trustees,  I  would  mention  the  name  of 
Charles  Reed,  Esq.,  M.P.,  who  is  well  known  to  me  for 
his  high  and  most  honorable  character,  as  a  most  suitable 
person  to  nil  that  office. 

"  Fifthly,  I  nominate,  constitute,  and  appoint  Sir  Curtis 
Miranda  Lampson,  of  80,  Eaton  Square,  Pimlico,  Middle- 
sex, and  of  Rowfant,  in  the  parish  of  Worth,  Sussex, 
Cart.,  Charles  Reed  of  Erlmead  House,  Hackney,  Middle- 
sex, Esq.,  M.P.,  George  Peabody  Russell,  Esq.,  of  Salem, 
Essex  County,  State  of  Massachusetts,  U.S.,  R.  Singleton 
Peabody  of  Rutland,  in  the  State  of  Vermont,  counsellor, 
and  Charles  W.  Chandler  of  Zanesville,  in  the  State  of 
Ohio,  counsellor,  executors  of  this  my  last  will  and  testa- 
ment ;  fully  authorizing  the  said  Sir  Curtis  Miranda 
Lampson  and  said  Charles  Reed,  called  my  London 
executors,  to  act  independently  of  said  George  Peabody 
Russell,  said  R.  Singleton  Peabody,  and  said  Charles  W. 
Chandler,  called  my  American  executors.  And  I  also 
authorize  my  American  executors  to  act  independently  of 
my  said  London  executors:  that  is  to  say,  my  London 
executors  to  have  full  management  and  control  of  my  per- 
sonal estate  in  England  ;  and  my  American  executors  to 
have  full  management  and  control  of  my  real  and  personal 
estate  in  America.  But  it  is  my  wish  and  hope  that  all  my 
executors,  both  London  and  American,  may  act  together 
with  the  utmost  harmony  for  the  best  interests  of  the 
estate. 


286        THE. LIFE  OF  GEORGE  PEABODY. 

"  Sixthly,  I  direct  that  all  and  each  of  my  executors 
aforesaid  be  exempt  and  excused  from  giving  bonds  to  any 
court  or  magistrate,  or  otherwise,  for  the  performance  of 
their  duties  or  offices  as  my  executors. 

"  Seventhly,  I  give  and  bequeath  to  the  said  Sir  Curtis 
Miranda  Lampson  and  said  Charles  Reed  £ 5,000  each  for 
their  services. 

"  Eighthly,  I  give  and  bequeath  to  the  said  George  Pea- 
body  Russell,  R.  Singleton  Peabody,  and  Charles  W. 
Chandler,  my  American  executors,  £5,000  each. 

"  Ninthly,  I  give  and  bequeath  to  the  said  George  Pea- 
body  Russell,  R.  Singleton  Peabody,  and  Charles  W. 
Chandler,  all  the  rest,  residue,  and  remainder  of  the 
property,  both  real  and  personal,  of  which  I  shall  be  pos- 
sessed at  my  decease,  or  which  may  afterwards  come  or 
fall  into  my  estate,  upon  trust  to  sell,  exchange,  or  retain, 
and  the  interest  accruing  on  the  same  to  divide  semi- 
annually (re-investing  the  same  in  the  case  of  minor  chil- 
dren) among  the  parties  named  as  beneficiaries  in  the 
family-trust,  of  which  Messrs.  J.  M.  Beebe,  S.  T.  Dana, 
and  S.  Endicott  Peabody,  are  trustees,  according  to  the 
proportions  of  the  sums  allotted  to  each  in  said  trust,  or 
such  other  proportions  as  I  may  hereafter  prescribe  to 
them,   my  said  American  executors. 

"  In  witness  whereof,  I,  the  said  George  Peabody,  de- 
claring this  to  be  my  last  will  and  testament,  written  on 
seven  pages  of  paper,  have  hereto  set  my  hand  and  seal, 
this  ninth  day  of  September,  1869. 

"  George  Peabody." 


THOUGHTS  SUGGESTED.  287 

By  tliis  will,  it  is  seen  that  Mr.  Peabody  sought  to  exert 
his  power  as  a  man  of  wealth  to  induce  harmonious 
action  between  Americans  and  Englishmen.  This  desire 
to  promote  peace  between  the  two  nations  was  very  evi- 
dent in  Mr.  Peabody's  life  and  character ;  and  the  wealth 
used  for  such  a  purpose  may  certainly  be  deemed  con- 
secrated. A  writer  declares  that  "  the  munificent 
charities  that  have  made  the  name  of  Peabody  a  house- 
hold word  in  two  hemispheres  were  not  the  promptings 
of  temporary  vanity,  or  a  sudden  freak  of  old  age  to  win 
the  applause  of  mankind :  on  the  contrary,  they  were 
but  the  fulfilment  of  a  long-cherished  design  formed  in  his 
own  mind,  as  a  matter  of  duty,  more  than  a  quarter  of  a 
century  ago,  and  which  had  constituted  his  chief  incen- 
tive to  the  acquisition  of  wealth.  While  in  this  city,  last 
summer,  he   said  to  his  old  partner  in   business,  who  had 

known   him  intimately  for  thirty-five  years,  '  Mr.  J , 

it  has  been  my  constant  prayer  to  God  for  upwards  of 
twenty  years,  that  I  might  be  enabled  to  accumulate  a 
large  sum  of  money  to  bestow  in  charity  to  the  poor.'  It 
will  scarcely  surprise  those  who  believe  in  the  efficacy  of 
prayer  to  be  told,  that,  during  all  those  years,  there  was 
not  a  single  business  enterprise  which  he  undertook  that 
did  not  prove  successful,  and  hardly  a  thing  which  he 
touched  that  did  not  turn  to  gold  in  his  hands." 

It  was  this  effort  to  spend  his  money  for  the  good  of 
others  that  secured  him  the  applause  of  the  public.  Not 
the  wealthy  merchant,  but  the  benevolent  man,  did  his 


288  THE  LIFE   OP   GEORGE   PEABODY. 

fellow-citizens  and  townsmen  delight  to  honor.  It  may 
not  be  amiss  to  place  on  record  a  report  rather  more  ex- 
tensive of  the  honors  paid  to  the  remains  of  Mr.  Peabody 
in  his  native  town.  "The  Boston  Post"  thus  describes 
the  scene :  — 

"  The  arrival  of  the  train  was  the  signal  for  the  tolling 
of  the  bells  and  the  firing  of  minute-guns.  The  citizens 
of  the  surrounding  towns  seemed  to  have  come  to  witness 
the  ceremonies,  and  the  vicinity  of  the  depSt  was  packed 
with  people.  The  body  was  first  taken  from  the  train, 
and  placed  upon  the  funeral-car.  This  was  a  structure 
about  eleven  feet  in  length,  seven  feet  in  width,  and  ten 
feet  high,  covered  with  black  velvet  appropriately  fes- 
tooned, and  trimmed  with  silver  lace  and  fringe  studded 
with  stars.  On  the  top  rested  the  casket  containing  the 
remains.  Underneath  the  casket  were  winged  cherubs  in 
silver ;  on  each  corner  an  elaborate  bronze  vase,  two 
feet  and  a  half  high  :  on  the  front  and  back  ends  the 
coat  of  arms  of  the  deceased,  and  on  one  side  the  Eng- 
lish, and  on  the  opposite  the  American  coat  of  arms,  in 
gold ;  on  each  corner  the  monogram  of  the  deceased,  in 
silver,  enclosed  with  laurel- wreaths.  The  car  was  drawn 
by  six  horses  covered  with  black  housings  trimmed  with 
silver.  The  four  companies  of  United-States  Artillery 
which  accompanied  the  remains  then  disembarked,  and 
escorted  the  procession ;  the  Sutton  Guard  acting  as  a 
guard  of  honor,  and  the  different  committees  who  came 


THOUGHTS  SUGGESTED.  289 

on  the  train  following  in  double  files.  A  direct  route  was 
taken  for  the  Institute,  which  was  reached  about  sunset. 
The  artillery  drew  up  in  line,  and  the  civic  portion  of  the 
procession  passed  into  the  hall,  which  was  appropriately 
draped  as  below  described.  Soon  after  all  had  entered, 
the  body  was  brought  in  and  placed  in  its  proper  position, 
and  a  guard  posted ;  and  the  procession  passed  around  the 
head  of  the  catafalque,  and  out  of  the  hall. 

"  The  funeral  decorations  in  the  Institute  building  at 
Peabody  were  arranged  with  taste  and  beauty.  On  enter- 
ing the  library -room,  the  emblems  of  mourning  were  seen 
at  once ;  the  windows  and  railing  having  been  heavily 
draped,  with  black,  with  a  white  border  on  either  edge, 
and  tastefully  trimmed  with  rosettes  of  black  and  white. 
At  the  end  of  the  room,  seen  through  the  catafalque,  is 
the  picture  of  her  Majesty,  and  above  it  the  royal  flag 
of  England  and  the  American  flag,  both  artistically 
draped  with  crape.  At  the  other  end  of  the  room,  the 
bust  of  the  deceased,  that  occupies  the  space  above  the 
door,  is  also  draped  with  the  sombre  hues  of  mourning. 
Above,  in  the  lecture-room,  the  portrait  of  the  deceased  is 
draped  in  black  and  white,  with  the  cross  of  St.  George 
and  the  stars  and  stripes  on  either  side,  covered  with 
crape ;  and  above  them  an  elegant  original  fresco  rep- 
resenting Britannia  and  Columbia  by  female  figures 
reclining  over  an  urn  containing  the  ashes  of  the  dead, 
and  guarded  by  the  British  lion  and  American  eagle  on 
either  side. 

19 


290  THE  LIFE  OF  GEOIIGE  PEABODY. 

"  The  catafalque  is  a  raised  dais,  ten  feet  in  length  and 
six  feet  in  width,  covered  with  black  velvet.  From  each 
corner  rises  a  standard,  supporting  a  framework  of  the 
same  size  as  the  base,  and  about  six  inches  in  width. 
Pendent  from  this  are  heavy  black-velvet  hangings, 
artistically  cut,  and  trimmed  with  a  wreath  of  silvery 
stars  enclosing  a  large  star  on  each  of  the  four 
sides,  and  heavy  silver-bullion  fringe,  with  wide  silver 
braid  above  it,  and  massive  silver  tassels  appropriately 
placed.  Above  the  hangings,  a  neat  silver  moulding  on 
a  black-velvet  groundwork  meets  the  eye.  Above  this  is 
a  row  of  silver  stars,  and  another  moulding  that  rises  to  a 
peak  on  each  of  the  four  sides,  containing  emblems  of 
mourning,  in  silver.  The  one  on  the  front  end  has  two 
reversed  torches  crossed ;  on  the  rear,  the  hour-glass, 
with  the  wings  of  Time,  are  to  be  seen ;  and  on  either 
side  a  large  silver  star,  encircled  by  its  emblem  of 
eternity,  —  an  endless  snake.  On  each  corner  arises  an 
elegant  arabesque  ornament  in  silver,  surmounted  with 
handsome  funeral-plumes.  In  front,  on  the  base,  is  the 
monogram  of  the  deceased,  in  silver  letters,  on  a  black- 
velvet  groundwork,  enclosed  in  a  laurel-wreath  in  silver, 
pendent  from  a  leaning  pole,  surmounted  by  a  knot  and 
rosette  of  silver.  On  each  corner  of  the  base  are 
cherubs'  heads  with  angels'  wings  in  silver;  the  whole 
being  arranged  in  the  ancient  Grecian  style,  that  is  at 
once  elegant  and  artistic." 


THOUGHTS  SUGGESTED.  291 

We  have  already  referred  to  the  funeral-services,  and 
need  add  no  more  here  in  regard  to  those  unrivalled 
obsequies.  Further  services  in  honor  of  Mr.  Peabody 
took  place  a  few  evenings  afterward  at  the  Peabody 
Institute  in  Danvers,  which  was  appropriately  decorated 
for  the  occasion  by  Mrs.  E.  G.  Berry.  The  exercises 
began  at  seven  o'clock  with  the  singing  of  the  anthem, 
"  Blessed  is  he  that  considereth  the  poor,"  by  the  united 
choirs  of  the  town,  under  direction  of  Mr.  John  S. 
Learoyd.  Prayer  was  then  offered  by  Rev.  George  J. 
Sanger.  It  was  followed  by  another  anthem,  reading  of 
the  Scriptures  by  Rev.  S.  I.  Evans,  and  a  choral  song  hj 
the  choir.  Rev.  James  Fletcher  then  delivered  an  ele- 
gant eulogy  on  the  deceased.  He  began  by  a  reference 
to  the  traits  of  character  developed  by  Mr.  Peabody  in 
early  life,  when  entering  upon  his  business-career,  amid 
circumstances  of  great  discouragement  and  trial.  During 
that  period  of  several  years,  he  displayed  the  tough  fibres 
of  his  nature,  —  his  hardihood,  perseverance,  unbending 
integrity,  high  sense  of  honor,  and  commanding  traits  as 
a  business-man.  These  qualities  shone  all  through  his 
mercantile  career.  He  was  undismayed  by  danger,  and 
preserved  his  integrity  and  manliness  of  character  in  the 
severest  of  trials.  His  great  services  in  upholding  Ameri- 
can credit  abroad  were  referred  to,  and  then  his  deport- 
ment in  the  time  of  prosperity  depicted.  He  felt  that 
God  had  bestowed  his  great  wealth  upon  him  that  he 
miglij;  do  good  with  it ;   and,  with  that  feeling  and  purpose, 


292  THE   LIFE  OF   GEORGE   PEABODY. 

he  distributed  his  riches  with  more  than  princely  munifi- 
cence for  the  benefit  of  his  fellow-men.  He  believed 
that  God  raised  him  up  to  accomplish  some  grand  benefit 
for  his  race.  Unlike  many  others,  when  his  wealth  came 
to  him,  he  had  the  elevation  of  spirit  and  the  affluence  of 
soul  to  give  it  away,  instead  of  adding  to  it.  He  gave  in 
the  full  tide  of  a  prosperous  life,  and  for  purposes  which 
displayed  benevolence  of  the  highest  order. 

The  simplicity  and  modesty  of  Mr.  Peabody's  charac- 
ter were  next  touched  upon.  He  never  boasted  of  his 
success,  or  sought  the  applause  of  men.  His  devotion  to 
his  mother  and  sisters,  and  his  love  to  his  birthplace,  were 
alluded  to  in  feeling  terms  ;  and  the  reverend  gentleman 
concluded  with  a  fine  tribute  to  the  breadth  of  Mr.  Pea- 
body's  character,  the  benignity  of  his  life,  and  the  bless- 
ings he  had  conferred  on  his  fellow-men  on  both  sides  of 
the  ocean. 

The  services  closed  with  an  ode  by  Rev.  James  Brand, 
and  t&e  benediction. 

Among  the  tributes  already  mentioned  was  that  of  Rev. 
Jewman  Hall ;  and  a  further  quotation  from  it  will  show 
that  the  London  preacher  rightly  apprehended  the  value 
of  that  power  which  accompanies  money.  He  said, 
"  There  is  danger,  lest,  in  admiration  of  Mr.  Peabody's 
princely  gifts,  some  may  suppose  that  such  liberality,  of 
itself,  is  religion.  Even  the  teachers  and  preachers  of 
Christianity  may  unintentionally  mislead  the  public  by  too 
unqualified  and  indiscriminating   admiration.     I   yield  to 


THOUGHTS  SUGGESTED.  293 

* 

none  in  appreciation  and  honor  of  Mr.  Peabody's  noble 
gifts  and  life  of  benevolence.  Nor  have  I  any  reason  to 
doubt  that  such  generosity  sprang  from  the  very  highest 
motives.  But  it  is  the  duty,  at  such  a  time,  of  Christian 
teachers  to  brave  the  possibility  of  being  misunderstood, 
and  to  testify,  in  the  midst  of  all  this  well-deserved 
applause,  that  we  are  not  saved  by  our  benefactions  either 
to  relieve  the  poor  or  to  promote  religion.  We  are  rebels 
against  God,  and  can  only  be  saved  by  being  reconciled 
to  him  through  Jesus  Christ.  We  must  preach  repent- 
ance towards  God,  and  faith  in  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  as 
the  only  way  of  salvation.  He  taught  us,  that,  if  we  should 
do  all  our  duty,  we  should  still  be  '  unprofitable  servants,' 
—  only  just  doing  what  is  required.  But,  as  none  of  us 
do  this,  how  plain  it  is  that  '  by  grace  we  are  saved, 
through  faith  '  !  '  If  I  give  all  my  goods  to  feed  the  poor, 
and  have  not  charity,  it  profiteth  me  nothing.' 

"Then  came  the  other  thought,  —  that,  with  faith  in 
Christ,  and  reconciliation  to  God,  as  the  foundation,  there 
must  be,  and  will  always  be,  the  superstructure  of  good 
works.  .  .  .  Certainly,  of  the  two,  it  would  be  better  to 
have  good  works  of  charity,  however  defective  their 
motive,  and  without  true  Christian  faith,  than  to  have  only 
the  pretence  of  possessing  faith  and  no  good  works.  The 
former  case  has  something  to  show,  which,  at  least,  may 
benefit  our  fellow-men  :  the  latter  case  has  absolutely 
nothing ;  for  « faith,  if  it  have  not  works,  is  dead,  being 
alone.' 


294  THE  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  PEABODY. 

"  Then  came  this  thought,  —  that  the  privilege  of  per- 
forming good  works  and  serving  Christ  is  not  confined  to 
the  wealthy.  A  large  gift  strikes  our  imagination  because 
its  obvious  benefit  is  large.  Thus  man  judges  of  benefi- 
cence. But  God  looks  to  the  motive,  measures  the  means, 
sees  the  amount  of  self-sacrifice,  and  approves  and  re- 
wards accordingly.  He  who  has  only  a  shilling  in  the 
world,  and  gives  away  sixpence,  thereby  depriving  himself 
of  half  a  meal,  may  be  as  acceptable  in  the  eye  of  God  as 
he  who  gives  half  a  million,  but  has  half  a  million  left. 
Jesus  said  that  the  poor  widow  who  threw  into  the  treas- 
ury her  two  mites  had  actually  given  more  than  the  rich 
who  cast  in  liberally,  but  did  it  out  of  their  abundance. 
This  is  not  to  disparage  great  and  liberal  benefactors  ;  but 
it  is  to  encourage  all,  however  poor,  —  even  so  that  they 
can  give  merely  a  cup  of  cold  water,  —  that  they  shall  not 
be  unrewarded ;  and  that  if  the  smallest  sum  is  given  in  a 
right  spirit,  and  in  proportion  to  our  ability,  and  with  self- 
sacrifice,  as  he  that  receiveth  a  prophet  in  the  name  of  a 
prophet  shall  receive  a  prophet's  reward,  so  he  that  gives 
away  a  penny  in  the  spirit  of  a  benevolent  millionnaire  shall 
receive  a  benevolent  million naire's  reward. 

"  And  then  a  concluding  thought  was  this :  Two 
nations  —  yea,  the  civilized  world  —  are  admiring  the 
gifts  of  the  rich  man,  who  was  still  rich  in  spite  of  his 
benefactions.  How  should  we  esteem  Him,  who,  though 
he  was  rich,  yet  for  our  sakes  became  poor,  that  we  by 
his  poverty  might  be  made  rich  "  ! 


THOUGHTS  SUGGESTED.  295 

A  correspondent  of  "  The  New- York  Tribune  "  tells  the 
following  anecdote  concerning  Mr.  Peabody's  use  of  that 
money  which  gave  him  power,  and  of  the  way  in  which 
he  liked  to  have  others  use  money :  — 

"When  Mr.  Peabody  was  in  the  United  States  last 
year,  he  visited  the  Institute  at  South  Dan  vers  which 
bears  his  name,  and  inquired  particularly  into  its  opera- 
tions ;  going  over  the  accounts,  and  discussing  with  the 
trustees  the  cost  of  its  maintenance  and  the  annual  income 
from  the  fund.  I  suppose  I  am  telling  no  secret,  and 
hurting  nobody's  feelings,  when  I  say  that  even  so  good 
and  benevolent  a  man  as  George  Peabody  was  not  exempt 
from  the  misfortunes  of  age  and  bodily  infirmity,  and  that 
he  consequently  allowed  himself  at  times  to  criticise  pretty 
freely  —  not  to  say  unjustly  —  the  policy  of  the  custodians 
of  his  benefactions.  On  tins  occasion,  he  is  said  to  have 
fretted  a  great  deal.  From  various  causes,  not  necessary 
to  mention,  and  certainly  not  easy  to  avoid,  the  revenue 
from  the  endowments  had  not  kept  pace  with  the  in- 
creased expenses  which  followed  the  general  rise  of  prices 
during  the  war;  and  the  benevolent  founder  felt  more 
keenly  how  far  the  Institute  fell  short  of  his  expectations 
than  how  much  it  really  had  accomplished.  '  You  spend 
too  much  money,'  he  complained ;  '  you  spend  too  much 
money.  You  pay  your  lecturers  too  much.  You  must 
get  them  cheaper.'  And  so  he  went  on  for  a  while,  until 
the   momentary  irritation   passed  away.     His   face   soon 


296  THE  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  PEABODY. 

brightened,  and  a  soft  expression  began  to  play  about  his 
mouth.  '  Well,  well,'  said  he,  drawing  something  from  his 
pocket,  '  I  must  give  you  fifty  thousand  dollars  more,  and 
get  you  out  of  trouble.  And  I  must  say,'  he  continued, 
'  that  none  of  my  foundations  have  been  so  admirably 
administered  and  given  me  so  much  satisfaction  as  this  one 
at  my  native  place.'  So  the  good  old  man  continued  for  a 
long  time  praising  every  thing  connected  with  the  Insti- 
tute, and  assuring  his  delighted  friends  that  they  had  ful- 
filled his  wishes  in  the  smallest  particulars.  It  is  well 
known  that  the  South-Dan  vers  foundation  was  his  favorite 
child." 

"  The  Boston  Journal "  expressed  its  idea  of  the  public 
feeling  in  regard  to  the  Peabody  obsequies,  saying  that 
those  who  regarded  his  life  as  useful  and  noble  were 
expressing  sincere  respect  for  his  memory,  and  adding,  — 

"  George  Peabody  was  a  representative  man  of  his  era 
and  of  his  country.  We  would  not  adopt  the  curious  idea 
of  Victor  Hugo,  that  John  Brown  and  George  Peabody 
are  America's  characteristic  contributions  ta  the  historic 
figures  of  this  age.  It  is  true,  however,  that  the  one  did 
not  more  truly  embody  the  Puritanic  conscientiousness 
and  dauntlessness  of  our  country  than  the  other  exem- 
plified its  thrift,  animated  by  pure  motives,  and  ending  in 
boundless  but  well-directed  philanthropy.  The  latter 
showed  the  world  that  the  phrase,  '  the  almighty  dollar,' 
supposed  to   carry  with   it  an  American   stigma,  really 


THOUGHTS  SUGGESTED.  297 

included  a  full  share  of  those  attributes  of  beneficence  as 
well  as  of  power  which  belonged  to  the  epithet.  Set 
down  amid  an  aristocracy  whose  accumulated  wealth 
dated  from  the  middle  ages,  George  Peabody  set  them  a 
lesson  in  the  act  of  true  benevolence.  The  poor  of 
London  to-day  know  his  name  better  than  they  do  the 
names  of  those  who  have  in  their  veins  '  all  the  blood  of 
all  the  Howards.'  Like  a  true  American,  also,  he  remem- 
bered most  fondly  his  own  countrymen  ;  and  his  benefac- 
tions, completely  unexampled  in  amount  and  extent  of 
application,  will  send  their  enriching  influences  down  to 
future  generations.  Let  all  honor,  then,  be  paid  to  the 
memory  of  one  who  founded  his  fame  on  the  great  good 
he  has  done  to  his  fellow-men." 

"  The  New-York  Albion  "  speaks  in  highly  eulogistic 
terms  of  Mr.  Peabody,  saying  without  reserve,  — 

"  George  Peabody  was,  in  a  wider  sense  than  is  often 
applicable,  a  new  type  of  manhood.  In  him  were  com- 
bined in  finely,  almost  perfectly,  balanced  proportions, 
three  qualities  seldom  found  in  close  association,  —  the 
shrewd  intuitive  perception  necessary  to  the  acquisition  of 
great  riches,  the  moral  impulses  which  prompt  to  a  benefi- 
cent distribution  of  them,  and  the  masculine  judgment 
which  exercises  such  a  mastery  over  both  as  to  prevent 
their  running  into  mischievous  excess.  A  life  which 
exhibits  to  us  these  characteristics  on  a  colossal  scale 
furnishes  scope  for  highly  profitable  study  ;  but,  in  order 


298  THE  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  PEABODY. 

to  this,  we  need  to  see  it  in  its  internal  development 
rather  than  in  its  external  incidents ;  or,  rather,  we  should 
be  more  correct  in  saying  that  any  knowledge  we  may 
obtain  of  the  latter  will  be  valuable  only  as  it  may  help  to 
disclose  the  former.  Whence  originated  this  felicitous 
opposition  of  qualities  so  rarely  to  be  seen  in  conjunction  ? 
To  what  extent  were  they  due  to  natural  constitution  or 
to  ancestral  history?  How  much  of  their  strength  did 
they  derive  from  early  training  ?  and  of  what  sort  was  that 
training  ?  In  what  respects  were  they  owing  to  circum- 
stances ?  and  what  were  the  circumstances,  if  any,  which 
account  for  the  extraordinary  bias  of  .this  man's  will  ? 
We  want  to  observe  his  character  in  its  first  manifesta- 
tions, in  its  growth,  and  in  the  influences  which  fused 
into  unity  tendencies  so  commonly  antagonistic  to  each 
other.  Of  course,  we  cannot  expect  to  find  what  we  want 
in  the  bare  compilations  which  appear  in  the  columns  of 
a  newspaper.  The  biography  of  the  late  George  Pea- 
body,  to  be  written  as  it  well  deserves  to  be,  would  de- 
mand a  high  order  of  intellectual  and  sympathetic  skill 
and  an  indefatigable  spirit  of  research,  and  would  un- 
doubtedly present  to  the  world  one  of  those  contributions 
to  psychological  study  which  give  a  new  direction  and  a 
powerful  stimulus  to  human  motive  and  effort. 

"  Of  Mr.  Peabody's  business  aptitudes,  his  commercial 
success  is  the  best  proof.  It  is  not  by  any  means  impos- 
sible to  find  his  parallels  as  to  this  feature  of  his  character. 
Modern  times  have  been  peculiarly  favorable  to  the  pro- 


THOUGHTS   SUGGESTED.  299 

duction  of  millionnaires.  The  sudden  expansion  of  the 
means  of  locomotion,  the  marvellous  facilities  provided 
for  quick  and  frequent  intercourse,  and  the  stupendous 
works  which  the  application  of  science  to  industrial  pur- 
suits had  made  not  merely  feasible,  but  almost  indispen- 
sable, have  opened  the  way  to  many  men  endowed  with 
competent  abilities  to  acquire  -  for  themselves  fortunes 
which  in  any  previous  age  would  have  been  deemed 
fabulous.  In  regard  to  this  matter,  Mr.  Peabody  had  a 
considerable  number  of  compeers.  But  it  is  worthy  of 
note,  that  the  grand  moral  traits  of  his  character  stood 
out  in  high  relief  before  the  world,  in  connection  with  his 
pursuit  of  wealth,  long  before  they  were  publicly  dis- 
played in  the  distribution  of  it.  That  he  was  rapidly 
amassing  riches  in  the  country  of  his  adoption  was  not 
more  widely  surmised,  perhaps,  than  it  was  known,  that,  in 
all  the  methods  of  acquisition  employed  by  his  house,  the 
soul  of  mercantile  integrity  and  honor  was  eminently 
conspicuous.  His  rectitude,  like  the  granite  of  his  native 
State,  was  immovable.  It  invited  trust,  and  never  gave 
way  under  any  weight  of  responsibility  resting  upon  it. 
It  armed  him  with  a  reputation  which  enabled  him  to 
negotiate  loans  for  public  bodies,  even  when  their  credit 
had  been  tainted.  His  own  name  amply  sufficed  as  a 
guaranty  for  the  fulfilment  of  engagements  entered  into, 
not  merely  on  his  own  behalf,  but  on  behalf  of  defaulting 
legislatures.  Wherever  he  saw  fit  to  pledge  it,  men  built 
their  speculations  upon  it  with  a  sense  of  security.  To  be 
true  was  one  of  the  necessities  of  his  being. 


300  THE  LIFE   OF  GEORGE  PEABODY. 

"  To   his   remarkable  talent   for  acquiring  wealth  was 
conjoined  a  noble  purpose  in  the  daily  pursuit  of  it.     He 
cared  little  for  the  selfish  and  garish  pleasures  for  which 
affluent   means  are   commonly  desired.     His    tastes  were 
simple.     They  had  been  formed,  probably,  upon  the  tradi- 
tions of  his  Puritanic  forefathers,  and  by  that  atmosphere 
of   opinion  which  surrounded   him  in  his  younger  days. 
His  personal  wants  were  few  and  inexpensive.     He  hated 
the  very  semblance  of  ostentation.     As  he  had  not  been 
born  into  a  system  which  made  extravagant  expenditure 
a   duty  owing   to   his   station,  so   he   aspired   not   to  be 
identified  with  it.     He  preferred  to  occupy  the   position 
of  a  tenant  in  trust.     His  gains  were  sought  and  obtained, 
not  as  an  end,  but  as  means  to  an  end ;  not  with  a  view 
to  himself,  but  with  a  view  to  others.     He  held  himself  to 
be  a  debtor  to  his  kind ;  and  his  accumulations  were  used 
in  the  faithful  discharge  of  that  debt.      This  moral  con- 
viction was  evidently  deeply  rooted  in  his  heart.     It  with- 
stood   all   the   influences    which   would    otherwise    have 
destroyed  it.     When  vast  wealth  is  only  in  prospect,  it  is 
not  at  all  uncommon,  because  not  at  all  difficult,  to  enter- 
tain the  most  generous  intentions  as  to  what  shall  be  done 
with  it,  and  to  lose    sight  of    them  in  proportion  to  the 
extent  to  which  that  prospect  is  realized.     Mr.  Peabody, 
on  the  contrary,  instead  of  allowing  the  inflowing  tide  of 
his  riches  to  submerge  his  sense  of  responsibility,  thought 
and  purposed  and  lived  so  as  to  keep  it  evermore  upper- 
most ;  and,  as  his   means  increased,  his  anxiety  to  make 


THOUGHTS  SUGGESTED.  301 

them  subservient  to  the  well-being  of  others  increased 
also.  Great  prosperity,  instead  of  closing  his  hand, 
opened  it  the  wider ;  and,  in  reverse  of  the  usual  order 
of  things,  age  enlarged  rather  than  contracted  the  scope 
of  his  liberality. 

"  But  impulsive  benevolence,  oftentimes  the  offspring  of 
weakness  and  indolence,  seems  to  have  had  no  power  to 
guide  the^  career  of  this  truly  remarkable  man.  No  one 
knew  better  than  he  how  to  say  '  No '  to  applications  for 
aid  which  did  not  commend  the  approbation  of  his  reason. 
He  spared  no  pains  to  ascertain  how  he  could  direct  his 
beneficence  into  the  most  serviceable  channels.  He  laid 
out  his  immense  wealth  with  as  conscientious  a  careful- 
ness as  he  might  have  done  if  he  had  expected  to  be 
called  upon  to  account  for  and  justify  every  shilling  of  his 
expenditure.  Rarely  has  the  life  of  a  plutocrat  exhibited 
so  perfect  an  illustration  of  the  idea  of  stewardship  as 
did  George  Peabody's.  Few  intelligent  men  of  this 
generation  will  forget  the  letter  in  which  he  sketched, 
for  the  intended  trustees  of  his  bounty  to  the  poor  of 
London,  his  own  views  of  the  object  to  which  it  might  be 
usefully  devoted.  Pauperism  had  no  attractions  for  him  : 
industrious  and  struggling  poverty  chiefly  engrossed  his 
sympathies.  Indeed,  it  was  a  marked  feature  of  his 
beneficence,  that  it  almost  invariably  had  respect  to  some- 
thing beyond  and  better  and  more  enduring  than  the 
immediate  benefit  it  might  confer.  Sometimes  patriotism, 
sometimes  international  amity,  gave  direction  to  his  liber- 


302  THE  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  PEABODY. 

ality.  He  set  the  highest  store  upon  education ;  and,  in 
applying  his  resources  for  the  advantage  of  his  own  coun- 
trymen, he  selected  precisely  those  modes  of  assisting 
them  which  were  most  peculiarly  adapted  to  their  posi- 
tion and  wants.  The  Peabody  Institute  at  Danvers, 
the  Literary  and  Scientific  Institute  at  Baltimore,  and 
his  munificent  contribution  to  the  Southern  Educational 
Fund,  bear  testimony  to  his  quick  appreciation  of  the 
special  needs  of  the  times.  The  means  of  intellectual 
refinement,  where  they  could  become  available,  and  of 
elementary  instruction  where  they  were  most  lacking  and 
most  urgently  required,  drew  forth  his  readiest  and  largest 
bounty.  London  presented  a  different  claim  upon  his 
purse.  Even  education  could  do  but  little  for  the  indus- 
trious poor  of  the  English  metropolis  until  they  were 
better  housed.  His  penetrating  glance  fastened  at  once 
upon  the  special  need  of  the  capital ;  and,  in  supplying  the 
remedy,  his  head  and  heart  united  in  doing  the  very  best 
that  could  be  done.  ' 

"  Mr.  Peabody's  life  was  an  impressive  homily  from 
beginning  to  end.  It  was  full  of  the  most  timely  lessons, 
enforced  upon  society  not  by  words,  but  by  deeds.  He 
has  rebuked  the  narrow  sectarianism  of  the  day  by  his 
display  of  '  good  will  to  men,'  quite  irrespectively  of  their 
religious  differences.  He  has  illustrated  in  his  own 
history  how  it  is  possible  to  combine  with  ardent  patriotism 
a  breadth  of  sympathy  extending  beyond  merely  national 
limits.      He   has  set   an  example    of  wise  philanthropy, 


THOUGHTS  SUGGESTED.  303 

capable  of  being  initiated  on  the  largest  scale  without 
undermining  the  self-reliant  spirit  of  the  poor.  Above  all, 
he  has  taught  us  the  true  uses  of  wealth,  on  what  con- 
ditions it  should  be  held  by  its  proprietors,  in  what  ways  it 
may  be  fruitfully  employed,  and  what  durable  honor  and 
happiness  it  may  be  made  to  achieve  for  the  comparative 
few  to  whom  it  is  given.  Rich  and  poor  alike  may  con- 
template his  career  with  practical  advantage.  London, 
especially,  will  keep  alive  his  memory  with  grateful  admi- 
ration ;  and,  let  us  trust,  his  name,  emblazoned  by  his 
works,  will  exercise  a  talismanic  influence  in  persuading 
the  prosperous  to  recognize  their  responsibilities,  and  to  do 
what  good  their  hands  can  find  to  do  whilst  they  yet  live 
to  superintend  and  rejoice  in  the  effects  of  their  benefi- 
cence. " 

While  these  pages  were  passing  through  the  press,  a 
writer  in  "  The  New- York  Tribune  "  furnished  an  account 
of  the  Peabody  homestead  and  the  birthplace  of  the  great 
giver,  which  is  so  graphic,  and  in  many  respects  so  inter- 
esting, that,  although  it  did  not  appear  in  season  for  the 
early  chapters  of  this  memoir,  it  may,  perhaps,  be  allowed 
to  appear  at  the  close:  — 

"  The  town  of  South  Danvers,  in  which  George  Pea- 
body  was  born,  in  which  he  served  his  apprenticeship  to 
a  country  shopkeeper,  in  which  he  founded  one  of  the 
noble  institutes  of  popular  education  that  bear  his  name, 
and  in  which,  after  this  magnificent  funeral-procession  of 


304  THE  LIFE   OF   GEOKGE   PEABODY. 

a  whole  month's  duration,  his  remains  will  at  last  repose, 
is,  to  all  intents  and  purposes,  a  part  of  Salem,  and  in 
some  of  its  features  not  unlike  that  ancient  and  ghost- 
haunted  seaport.  I  speak  of  it  as  South  Danvers  ;  for  it 
has  come  so  lately  into  its  new  name  of  Peabody,  adopt- 
ing, after  a  fashion  not  uncommon  with  legatees,  the 
family  appellation  which  belongs  with  the  property,  that  the 
change  has  not  yet  renewed  the  faces  of  the  sign-boards, 
and  is  only  half  recognized  in  the  talk  of  the  inhabitants. 
The  main  street  of  Salem  runs  out  alono;  the  crest  of  a 
hill,  with  a  general  determination  toward  the  north-west, 
but  with  erratic  impulses  now  and  then  to  the  right  and 
left.  It  never  gets  into  the  country ;  and  its  broad, 
quaint,  comfortable  old  houses  are  scarcely  far  enough 
apart  to  have  even  a  suburban  look,  before  up  the  elm- 
shaded  street  comes  a  persistent  smell  of  leather.  The 
road  pitches  down  into  a  little  valley  full  of  tanneries  ; 
then  up  another  hill  whose  slopes  are  mostly  hung  with 
hides,  and  upon  whose  crest  stands  the  brick-and-granite 
building  of  the  Peabody  Institute ;  down  once  more  into 
a  second  hollow,  likewise  given  up  to  leather ;  and  there 
you  are  in  the  heart  of  South  Danvers.  A  single-track 
horse-railway,  with  infrequent  turnouts  and  still  more 
infrequent  cars,  stretches  from  here  through  Salem.  You 
may  come  that  way  if  you  are  in  no  particular  hurry ;  but, 
if  pressed  for  time,  you  had  better  walk. 

"  It  is  not  natural  to  look  for  beauty  in  a  village  which 
devotes    itself  to  tanning  hides  and   spreading  tan -bark 


THOUGHTS   SUGGESTED.  305 

around  its  door-yards,  only  varying  these  useful  pursuits 
by  the  cognate  industry  of  manufacturing  glue ;  but  Pea- 
body,  in  spite  of  unsavory  smells,  is  a  pretty  place,  and  the 
pilgrims  who  visit  it  during  the  approaching  ceremonies 
will  find  the  Massachusetts  Mecca  not  unworthy  of  its 
shrine.  A  Massachusetts  village  —  especially  an  old  Massa- 
chusetts village,  in  which  the  shade-trees  have  had  years 
enough  to  develop  their  beautiful  proportions,  and  spread 
their  arms  across  the*  wide  roadway,  and  whose  best 
houses  were  built  before  the  day  of  staring  white  clap- 
boards and  prim  green  blinds  (you  know  the  kind  of 
house  I  mean,  —  front-door  close  to  the  street,  holly- 
hocks, phlox,  and  prince 's-feather  under  the  parlor  win- 
dows)—  is  always  a  pleasant  sight;  and  even  in  this 
gloomy  season,  with  bare  trees  and  muddy  roads,  Peabody 
has  a  clean,  thrifty,  substantial,  and,  withal,  tasteful  appear- 
ance. It  is  pretty  well  stricken  in  years  for  an  American 
village.  The  old  houses  are  many  enough  and  prominent 
enough  to  give  it  an  antique  aspect,  in  spite  of  the  factories  ; 
and  flavors  of  the  half-forgotten  past,  such  as  hung  around 
Hawthorne's  custom-house  down  at  the  port,  are  wafted 
along  its  quiet  road.  Off  to  the  right,  at  the  foot  of  the 
ridge,  there  is  a  pond  or  inlet  of  brackish  water :  a  steam- 
railway  runs  along  there,  and  there  most  of  the  factories 
are  built.  But  in  the  main  street  on  the  hill  there  is  little 
to  break  the  stillness.  Just  by  the  side  of  the  road  there 
is  an  old  graveyard.  Right  opposite,  on  the  other  side  of 
the  water,  lies  Harmony  Grove,  a  newer  and  more  fash- 
20 


306  THE  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  PEABODY. 

ionable  place  of  sepulture,  where  the  upper  classes  may  be 
interred  with  all  the  modern  improvements,  including  a 
patent  burial-case  and  a  granite  monument.  Mr.  Pea- 
body's  remains  will  be  placed  in  this  grove  ;  but  the  precise 
spot  for  their  permanent  resting-place  has  not  yet  been 
selected." 

THE   HOUSE   IN   WHICH   MR.    PEABODY   WAS   BORN. 

"In  company  with  Mr.  Poole,  ^he  courteous  librarian 
of  the  Institute,  I  went  to  see  the  house  in  which  Mr. 
Peabody  was  born.  It  is  on  the  outskirts  of  the  village, 
and,  eighty  years  ago,  was  probably  quite  in  the  country. 
What  it  was  eighty  years  ago  it  is  not  now  in  any 
respect,  save  that  most  of  the  old  building  remains  and 
can  be  identified.  A  long  L  has  been  added  ;  a  small 
kitchen,  which  was  anciently  attached  to  the  rear  like  an 
excrescence,  has  been  moved  away;  and  improvements, 
enlargements,  and  alterations  have  been  made  to  such  an 
extent,  that  the  old  place  has  all  the  external  appearance 
of  a  modern  Yankee-village  house.  A  few  rods  in  the 
rear  is  a  tannery :  a  few  rods  away,  at  one  side,  is  a  glue- 
factory  ;  and  the  owner  of  the  factory,  Mr.  Upton,  is  also 
the  owner,  though  not  the  occupier,  of  the  house.  We 
met  the  lady  of  the  house  near  the  door  ;  and  she  very 
kindly  gave  us  permission  to  enter,  and  showed  us  all  that 
remains  of  the  old  house  where  Thomas  Peabody  lived, 
and  his  son  George  was  born.  It  was  a  two-story  house, 
with  a  short  hall  and  narrow  stairway  in  the  middle,  and 


THOUGHTS  SUGGESTED.  307 

on  each  floor  a  single  small  room  on  each  side  of  the  hall, 
—  four  rooms  in  all.  These,  with  the  kitchen-outhouse, 
now  removed,  comprised  the  whole.  The  front -door 
opens  close  to  the  ground,  and  only  a  foot  or  two  from 
the  street  railing.  There  is  no  porch ;  and  the  front  of 
the  house  is  almost  as  bare  as  if  it  had  been  shaved  off 
with  a  plane.  Bare  and  ugly  enough  the  place  must 
have  been  when  the  old  Peabbdy  family  held  it ;  though 
now,  with  its  enlarged  proportions,  bright  paint,  and  neat 
appearance,  it  is  so  far  improved,  that  a  sensitive  man 
might,  perhaps,  live  in  it  without  absolute  unhappiness. 
The  original  rooms  have  not  been  altered.  On  the  first 
floor,  they  are  only  a  little  over  six  feet  high  ;  and  across 
the  middle  of  the  ceiling  runs  a  beam,  which  tall  visitors 
must  stoop  to  pass.  The  heavy  timbers  of  the  framework 
are  also  conspicuous  at  the  corners.  But  for  these,  with 
the  fresh  wall-paper,  bright  carpets,  and  modern  furniture, 
there  would  be  nothing  in  the  appearance  of  the  rooms  to 
remind  you  of  their  age.     '  I  have  tried  everywhere,'  said 

Mrs. ,  c  to  get  some  furniture  which  belonged  to  the 

old  place  ;  but  not  a  bit  can  be  found.  I  would  like,  above 
all  things,  to  make  at  least  one  of  these  rooms  look  as  it 
did  when  the  Peabodys  had  it.' 

"  *  You  must  be  very  much  annoyed  with  visitors,'  said 
I ;  '  and  I  am  ashamed  of  my  own  intrusion  upon  your 
patience.' 

"  4  Oh,  not  at  all !  I  know  that  strangers  like  to  see  the 
house,  and  I  am  very  happy  to  show  it.'     Bat,  before  the 


308  THE  LIFE  OP  GEOBGE  PEABODY. 

funeral  is  over,  I  fear  the  kind  lady's  good  nature  will  be 
taxed  to  its  uttermost  limits." 

"  America  gratefully  receives  back  the  ashes  of  her  dis- 
tinguished son  and  citizen,  and  commits  them  to  the 
earth.  They  are  to  mingle  with  the  soil  on  which  he  was 
born,  and  for  which  he  had  such  an  affection.  There  is 
not  a  citizen  of  this  country  whose  ear  is  not  open  to 
catch  every  syllable  of  the  funeral-words.  There  is  not 
a  heart  in  the  land  that  is  not  present  at  his  open  grave. 
He  comes  home  to  be  enshrined.  If  we  of  this  time 
would  henceforth  undertake  a  new  pilgrimage,  let  it  be*  to 
the  burial-place  of  the  man  who  has  taught  the  world 
anew,  as  never  man  taught  it  before,  how  much  more 
blessed  it  is  to  give  than  to  receive.  The  name  of  Pea- 
body  is  to  stand,  for  the  future,  synonymous  with  Philan- 
thropy. This  single  word  shall  be  his  lasting  monu- 
ment." 


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LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON  111., 

EMPEROR    OF    THE    FRENCH. 

Embracing  a  Record  of  nearly  all  the  Important  National  Events  which  have 
occurred  in  Europe  during  the  last  half  of  a  century. 

BY 
JOHN    S.    C.    ABBOTT, 

Author   of   "History  of  Napoleon   I,"    "French   Revolution,"   "Civil  "War  in 

America,"  "  Lives  of  the  Presidents,"  &c,  &c. 
I 


"  This  work  well  hecomes,  in  its  size  and  mechanical  execution,  the  subjects  of 
which  it  treats.  France  of  all  countries,  the  French  of  all  nations,  and  Louis 
Napoleon  of  all  rulers,  furnish  the  most  interesting  materials  for  a  readable  book. 
Those  who  know  with  what  romance  Mr.  Abbott's  pen  invests  every  subject  of 
which  it  treats  may  well  expect,  in  this  royal  octavo,  interest  as  well  as  information. 
Nor  will  they  be  disappointed.  The  author  has  had  access  to  all  the  facilities  needed 
for  the  full  development  of  his  subject.  From  the  first  Napoleon,  the  annals  of 
France  have  been  full  of  thrilling  interest.  The  present  emperor  has  become  in  six- 
teen years  the  leading  spirit  in  modern  history,  and  is  a  marvel  in  himself.  Mr. 
Abbott  has  been  careful  to  give  documentary  proof  for  his  statements ;  and  those 
that  find  fault  with  his  details  must  blame  history,  and  not  the  historian."  —  Port- 
land (Me.)  Christian  Mirror. 


The  book  is  a  royal  octavo  of  about  700  pages ;  finely  illustrated  by  nine  pure 
line  steel  engravings,  executed  in  Paris  expressly  for  the  work;  and  sold  only  by 
subscription. 

For  terms,  address 

B.  B.  RUSSELL,   Publisher, 

55  Cornhill,  Boston,  Mass. 


A  Book  for  every  Household  in  America. 


LIVES    OF   THE    PRESIDENTS 


OF    THE    UNITED    STATES, 


IProm   "Washington   to   the   Present    Time. 


ILLUSTRATED,  AND  COMPLETE  IN  ONE  VOLUME. 
BY 

JOHN    S.    <*    ABBOTT, 

Author  of  the  "Civil  "War  in  America,"  "Life  of  Napoleon,"  "History  of  the 
French  Revolution,"  "  Mother  at  Home,"  &c,  &c. 


"  It  is  hardly  necessary  to  speak  well  of  a  hook  written  to  carry  out  a  practical 
idea,  and  hy  one  of  the  most  practical  writers  in  America.  There  is  not  a  politician, 
a  newspaper  editor,  or  intelligent  citizen,  who  will  not  find  this  work  of  vast  im- 
portance to  him,  saving  much  labor,  and  therefore  time.  It  is  not  only  a  resume,  of 
the  leading  events  in  the  characters  of  those  who  have  presided  over  the  Govern- 
ment, but  is  accompanied  by  philosophical  reflections,  and  by  what  we  are  pleased 
to  notice,  —  the  frank  objections  of  the  biographer  to  such  errors  as  may  have  been 
committed  by  these  Chief  Magistrates.  It  is  a  wonder  that  the  idea  of  such  a  book 
has  not  before  been  carried  out;  and  we  are  glad  that  it  has  fallen  into  the  hands  of 
a  gentleman  whose  experience,  discrimination,  and  intelligence  qualify  him  to  give 
us  a  complete  and  standard  work  of  reference."  —  Washington  Chronicle. 


The  work  is  an  octavo  volume  of  520  pages,  handsomely  illustrated  by  eight  steel- 
plate  illustrations,  and  thirty-six  engravings  on  wood ;  and  sold  exclusively  by  can- 
vassing Agents. 

For  terms,  addresa 

B.  B.  RUSSELL,  Publisher, 

55  Cornhill,  Boston,  Mass. 


Date 

Due 

.  ■     . 

•  * 

4  2006 

9 

0038775522 


1 

(A 


923,6       Hana*°rd 

Pol  Life  of  George  Peabody 


